Consumer Experience News, Views, and Reviews: October 2022

Welcome back to our monthly news roundup for franchise consumer experience pros. Except for ongoing inflation, labor shortages, supply chain issues, a recession on the horizon, and a possible winter resurgence of Covid, it’s business as usual. If you have news items, trends, reports, or studies you think will be useful to CMOs and our other franchise consumer experience readers looking to navigate the new future, please forward them our way!

And now, the news… IN THE MARKETPLACE Customers Chafe as Rewards Programs Are Pared Back Cutbacks Are on the Menu for Food & Beverage Brands How Restaurants Should Prepare for the Holiday Season 10 Restaurant Trends We’re Likely To See in 2023 Burger King To Spend $400 Million in 2 Years to “Reclaim the Flame” For Fast Food Brands, Breakfast Is the Most Important Meal of the Day Smashburger Plans To Open 65 to 75 New Restaurants by 2024 For Hotel Brands, Recession Fears Shift from “If” to “How Deep” What Is the Inflationary Tipping Point for Fast Food Price Hikes? Most Popular Burger Chains by State LABOR & EMPLOYMENT The Future of Work Is Now—Can You Keep Up? Revisiting the “Great Rethink” by U.

S. Workers Since Covid A Status Check on the Restaurant Labor Market Deskless Report 2022 Explores the State of the Frontline World The Coming Fight Over the Gig Economy, Explained LEGAL Fast Food Chains Raise Millions To Oppose California’s FAST Act National Restaurant Association Asks for Relief for EIDL Recipients Black Media Chief Byron Allen Sues McDonald’s for $10 Billion for Not Advertising on His Networks Texas Pete Hot Sauce Sued Over Product Being Made in North Carolina Chipotle To Pay $7.