For many people, coffee is life. And for the true coffee aficionados out there it can be difficult to get a quality cup of coffee in the average QSR or fast-casual restaurant. The truth is, coffee just isn't a big part of the profit mix for most restaurants. Because of this, they simply don’t invest in the products or the equipment to support quality coffee.

Take a look at the menu of your favorite restaurant. Chances are, they don’t have much more than “coffee” listed. No mention of brand, percolation method, 

If you’re a fan of the KFC brand, you may be aware that they have recently announced the Clean Eating Burger (#cleaneating burger). And whether or not you believe this new menu item is real is now beside the point. You see, the point here is that everyone was talking about it. A lot.

It didn’t actually matter if the chia-seeded cauliflower bun was real and meant to actually be a bun. And it doesn’t matter about the unsweetened almond yoghurt or the ice cube relish. The spiralized chicken breast and 100 per cent British kale? Doesn’t matter.

Ask 100 vegetarians why they’ve cut meat out of their diet and you’re likely to get 100 different answers. Regardless, going meatless is a choice and it’s one that more and more people making – and food producers are standing up and taking note.

So why would anyone want to eat fake meat in the first place? Because it’s not meant. And that means a few positive things, like:

It never fails - new years bring new trends which always seems to bring new words and phrases to describe them. This year is no different, so we figured we’d give you a head start on 5 new industry words you’re likely to hear now - and moving forward.

Chef-driven. There was once a time when chefs were the hidden faces of restaurants. They were rarely seen, but often revered as the hidden hero of the menu. Today is a much different story. With so many celebrity chefs on the map there is a new trend of having the chef be at the center of...well...just about everything. Whether a brand cashes in on a chef’s celebrity status, or they merely use chef-developed menu items to signify healthy and natural offerings, this trend is a response to increased demand for healthier items that are rich in creativity and dimension. And those things come from, usually, chefs.  

If you think brand loyalty is a thing of the past, think again. We hear talk of patrons going from brand-to-brand-to-brand and we just assume that it's because loyalty has jumped the shark when, in fact, the opposite is true. People leave brands because brands aren't giving them a good enough reason to stay. And in no place is those more true than in the quick-serve, fast-casual restaurant space. 

So is there anything a QSR in today's market can do to lower the likelihood of a patron exodus in search of a brand that better-suits their needs? You bet. And we'll sum it up here in two words: