Inside these posts: Breakfast

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Study: McDonald’s winning coffee loyalty battle

Coffee cups at the McDonald's restaurant at Fullerton & Central in Chicago. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)

Fickle coffee drinkers are most loyal to a purveyor better known for burgers, a new study found. Coffee customers of McDonald’s Corp., said they were more loyal to the home of the Big Mac than those who frequent Starbucks Corp. and Dunkin’ Donuts in a study by market research firm CustomersDNA LLC.

The as-yet unpublished study involved 15,000 fast-food customers who were asked about their coffee and breakfast-buying habits, only 29 percent of McDonald’s customers said they go to a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee or breakfast in a given month. Get the full story »

IHOP planning restaurants on college campuses

Casual dining chain International House of Pancakes LLC is planning to develop more restaurants on college campuses with partner Aramark.

“The trend of breakfast all-day and late-night dining is growing on college campuses,” said Ann Marie Solomon, Aramark vice president of national brand partnerships, in a statement. Get the full story »

IHOP pancake house takes on prayer group

IHOP has filed a lawsuit against a church group called the International House of Prayer claiming that the group is illegally using the pancake house’s famous acronym.

The legal flap started earlier this month when the International House of Pancakes filed the lawsuit in a federal court in California. Get the full story »

Kraft Foods to expand China presence

Oreo products packaged for distribution in China. (Lane Christiansen /Tribune)

Kraft Foods, North America’s largest food company, is looking to double the number of Chinese cities in which it distributes Cadbury products within the next two years, its China head said on Monday.

The number of cities in China in which Cadbury confectionary is sold would rise to about 40 by tapping Kraft’s distribution network, Lorna Davis, president and chairman of Kraft’s China operations told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in China. Get the full story »

Burger King adding 9 breakfast items

Burger King's new blueberry muffins. (AP/Burger King)

Burger King is introducing nine new breakfast items including blueberry biscuits and pancake platters and planning a major breakfast marketing blitz — all with an eye toward eating up some of McDonald’s morning business.

The chain said the move Tuesday is its biggest introduction of new items at one time ever. It also includes iced coffee from Seattle’s Best. Get the full story »

PepsiCo hopes to revive Quaker with new products

PepsiCo Inc. is hoping to revive its Quaker division, headquartered in Chicago, with new types of cereal, a reformulation of its instant oatmeal and a new marketing campaign.

The brand’s trademark hot and cold cereals have been hurting in the down economy as people shift away from name brands to save money. They’re also not eating as much breakfast, said Quaker President Jaya Kumar. So the company is adding whole grains, removing sugar and focusing on the healthy aspects of breakfast to link its brands to the first meal of the day. Get the full story »

Bob Evans Farms to close Illinois plant

Bob Evans Farms Inc. says it will immediately close a food production plant in the west-central Illinois city of Galva.

The Columbus, Ohio-company on Monday said the reasons were excess capacity and diminishing live sow market supply. The company says the closure affects about 70 employees. But some of those employees could have the chance to transfer jobs within Bob Evans Farms Inc. Get the full story »

Burger King rolls out kids’ breakfast meals

Burger King is upping the ante on its march into the breakfast market, with national roll out of meals for kids.

The meal includes a kids breakfast sandwich, apple slices, a calcium-fortified apple juice — and a toy. It has 410 calories, 11.5 grams of fat, and 4 grams of saturated fat and conforms  to lower-fat and –calorie standards defined by the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, Burger King said. Get the full story »

McDonald’s to add oatmeal, drop Big N’ Tasty

Oak Brook-based McDonald’s Corp. signaled the impending demise of the Big N’ Tasty, Mac Snack Wraps and the fruit and walnut salad, among other items. At the same time, McDonald’s is gearing up for a planned national rollout in January of an oatmeal breakfast, currently being test-marketed.