Here we are with another edition of Fast delivery, this stew of brief news from the world of catering. This time, we will clarify the aesthetic changes that Burger King will make to its restaurants, we will give details on the closure of the Culinary Lab and we will analyze the data from the last quarter of MTY.
Let's start with this announcement from Burger King which plans to modernize its branches to face competition in the fast food sector. Burger King US and Canada President Tom Curtis announced that customers will see a new design in restaurants starting in 2024. The brand revealed the new design at the company's franchise convention .
Currently, two Burger King restaurants have already been redesigned with the “Sizzle” decor and more will follow next year. The new locations will be equipped with digital ordering kiosks and streamlined lanes for drive-thru and pickup. About half of U.S. restaurants are expected to have the new design by the end of 2024.
Let's continue with bad news, that of Labo Culinaire, a wine bar located in the Société d'Arts et Technologie (SAT), which has just announced its definitive closure after 10 years of existence.
Since 2021, chef Émilie Bégin (a former member of the show Les Chefs!) has highlighted colorful and appetizing dishes highlighting seasonal foods.
A festive evening will be organized on October 23 to celebrate the closure, with an Art & Vino evening featuring four talented Montreal artists. These artists will create original works on wine bottles for customers to purchase. Chef Émilie Bégin will offer a culinary retrospective, presenting the notable dishes of the decade of Labo Culinaire. Although the Culinary Lab is closing, the team is announcing an exciting project for next year, details of which will be revealed soon.
Finally, the MTY Group, owner of brands such as Valentine, Thai Express and Sushi Shop, notes that customers are more demanding after increasing prices on the menus of its 90 brands. However, CEO Éric Lefebvre notes that despite the price increase, consumer demand remains strong and there has been no notable weakness. MTY's network continues to lose more restaurants than it opens, but the number of closures has declined, reaching its lowest level since 2016. The company opened 87 stores and closed 92 during the third quarter. This situation arises in a difficult context where obtaining financing has become more difficult and costly. Although the results were better than analysts' expectations, they prefer to wait for more consistent performance before considering this as a positive trend.
