---
title: "Newest Menu Masters in the Franchise World Revealed"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/f78fd552-20b6-489b-9cc8-f86a41d5ef43
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/newest-menu-masters-in-the-franchise-world-revealed-1413
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2015-04-02T19:14:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T13:25:27.429Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/58a0974b5c84242a508a62a0f26ce8645904.jpg
---

# Newest Menu Masters in the Franchise World Revealed

**TL;DR:** Nation's Restaurant News and Ventura Foods have announced the winners of the annual MenuMasters awards, recognizing menu innovation and research in the franchise world. The winners include Which Wich, Popeyes, Smashburger, and Mendocino Farms Sandwich Market.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2015-04-02. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/newest-menu-masters-in-the-franchise-world-revealed-1413).*

## Story

There are menu mavens, and then there are menu masters. But how to determine who deserves such a designation?

Don’t worry; Nation’s Restaurant News and Ventura Foods have teamed up to take the guesswork out of the process with an annual awards ceremony titled, funnily enough, MenuMasters.

According to the official MenuMasters website, the goal of the awards is simple:

“To identify and recognize research and development executives and their respective foodservice companies for outstanding dedication and achievement to the area of research and development, and the product lines that are developed and marketed by their restaurant and foodservice companies.”

Kind of a mouthful, but their heart is in the right place, as anyone who’s visited this year’s winners can attest to the flavorful triumphs these restaurants have achieved.

Take, for instance, Which Which, which took home the award for Healthful Innovations.

“For years, restaurants would periodically add healthful items to their menus, only to remove them again when nobody bought them,” Nation’s Restaurant News Senior Food Editor Bret Thorn said. “But now more American consumers are showing genuine interest in items that they see as being better for them, such as Chick-fil-A’s grilled chicken and Which Wich’s Beyond Meat.”

Other winners included Popeyes for Best Limited Time Offer, Smashburger for Best Menu Line Extension and Mendocino Farms Sandwich Market for the Trendsetter Award.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Nation's Restaurant News (publication)
- menu innovation (topic)
- Chick-fil-A (company)
- Popeyes (company)
- Which Wich (company)
- Smashburger (company)
- Beyond Meat (company)
- awards (topic)
- Bret Thorn (person)
- research and development (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/newest-menu-masters-in-the-franchise-world-revealed-1413). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/f78fd552-20b6-489b-9cc8-f86a41d5ef43).