In case you didn't know, competition is stiff out there and it's not getting any easier for newly-minted quick-serve restaurants to get noticed. But, as each year passes, we see more and more brands plant their flags and try to lure customers from the hundreds of restaurant brands that have already been established in a particular market.

On top of this, customers aren't getting any less demanding. In fact, customers are becoming more demanding than ever. The old way of marketing and branding won't cut it with today's cynical and savvy customers who want something totally unique, innovative and focused on them. Oh, and it has to be good, affordable and served fast.

The stomach wants what the stomach wants – when the stomach wants it.

There was once a time in this world where, after dinner, people would wind down their day and actually do the unthinkable – go to bed and sleep until morning. Then, one day, a restaurant had an idea that it would not just add a meal to the day, but also start a trend that would change our eating habits forever.

Taco Bell decided that Americans needed a fourth meal. They bought it and now we’ve got a mix of late night dominators trying to up their breakfast game and leaders in the QSR sector offering all day breakfast.

If there’s one thing that can be said about the Taco Bell brand it’s that the company is ambitious. In the recent past, the taco brand leader has been at the forefront of innovation that hasn’t just earned it the attention of the media, it’s got customers buying more than ever.

Now, Taco Bell is poised to open over 100 locations in for major markets over the next five years to give itself a 30 percent increase in its number of locations globally.

When it comes to raising the level of quality of your ingredients, it ultimately increases the cost of those ingredients as well. And while many QSRs and fast-casual restaurants do their best to not pass those costs along to customers, it can be difficult to strike a balance between quality and increasing cost of doing business at a higher level.

At a minimum, restaurants that choose higher-quality ingredients (fresh produce, animals raised without antibiotics, etc) can expect a two percent increase in their food costs.

Associated with this cost is something that many people don't often think about - the cost of food safety training for the proper handling of higher quality (and fresher) foods. The cost of this kind of training can be high - and with a generally high turnover rate in the QSR-fast casual industry, brands are looking at a lot of money spent on food - and training on how to properly handle that food.

There’s no real easy way to tell you this, so we’re just going to come out and say it. McDonald’s in the USA has created a new, silicone utensil that lets you insert french fries for prongs. And then you use it to eat. This half-fork, half fries hybrid has been introduced to go along with the brand’s new signature burgers and chicken sandwiches.

So what exactly is it that one would eat with this “Frankenfork”? Well, the idea is that you would use the Frork to scoop up any toppings that may fall off during the course of eating a meal.