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78-592: Harry Ramsden's is a fast food restaurant chain based in the United Kingdom which offers fish and chips and assorted themed dishes. Founded by restaurant entrepreneur Harry Ramsden in Guiseley , West Yorkshire , in 1928, the business has 35 owned and franchised outlets throughout the UK and Ireland. While earlier restaurant chains existed in the UK, such as Samuel Isaacs' chain of 22 fish and chip restaurants,

156-459: A quick-service restaurant ( QSR ) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service . The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a " meat-sweet diet ", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away , though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of

234-494: A restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951. While the first fast-food restaurant in the United States was a White Castle in 1921 , fast-food restaurants had been operating elsewhere much earlier, such as

312-604: A big presence in Japan, but local gyudon chains such as Sukiya , Matsuya and Yoshinoya also blanket the country. Japan has its own burger chains including MOS Burger , Lotteria and Freshness Burger . Notable Taiwanese fast-food restaurants include 85C Bakery Cafe , TKK Fried Chicken , and Bafang Dumpling. The major fast-food chains in India that serve American fast food are KFC, McDonald's, Starbucks, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, and Dominos. Most of these have had to make

390-400: A counter is available for purchasing French fries , beverages , krokets , frikandellen , kaassoufflés and hamburgers and other snacks can be bought from the automats . FEBO is one of the largest of such types of fast-food restaurants with automats. In addition to home-grown chains such as Supermac's , numerous American chains such as McDonald's and Burger King have also established

468-401: A fast clip. Despite the success of their operation, the partners discovered that the design of the insta-broiler made the unit's heating elements prone to degradation from the drippings of the beef patties. The pair eventually created a mechanized gas grill that avoided the problems by changing the way the meat patties were cooked in the unit. After the original company began to falter in 1959, it

546-656: A franchise of the predecessor to what is now the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King . McLamore had visited the original McDonald's hamburger stand belonging to the McDonald brothers; sensing potential in their innovative assembly line –based production system, he decided he wanted to open a similar operation of his own. The two partners eventually decided to invest their money in Jacksonville, Florida -based Insta-Burger King. Originally opened in 1953,

624-631: A frozen retail cutting operation, it has grown rapidly through acquisition and expanded to cover 36 manufacturing sites in the UK, eight in the Netherlands, five in Ireland and one in Poland. The group employs 23,000 people, and annual sales of £3.28 billion. It is listed 9th on the 2017 Sunday Times Top Track 100. It is the largest food company in the UK by turnover. Following a period of asset disposal, on 17 November 2010 Northern Foods announced it

702-409: A gamble and dive into the unknown. Due to the importance of consistency, most companies set standards unifying their various restaurant locations with a set of common rules and regulations. Parent companies often rely on field representatives to ensure that the practices of franchised locations are consistent with the company's standards. However, the more locations a fast-food chain has, the harder it

780-490: A hybrid between counter-service typical at fast-food restaurants and a traditional table service restaurant. Catering trucks (also called food trucks) often park just outside worksites and are popular with factory workers. In 1896, the first self-service restaurant (the "Stollwerck-Automatenrestaurant") opened in Berlin's Leipziger Straße . Some trace the modern history of fast food in the United States to 7 July 1912, with

858-712: A lot of changes to their standard menus to cater to Indian food habits and taste preferences. Some emerging Indian food chains include Wow! Momo , Haldiram's , Faaso's and Café Coffee Day . Food habits vary widely across states within India. While typical idli and dosa is fast food in Southern India, in Maharashtra it is misal-pav , pav-bhaji , and poha . Further north in Punjab and Haryana, chole-bhature are very popular and in Bihar and Jharkhand litti-chokha

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936-414: A marked improvement in sales in the food court and seaside restaurant business of Harry Ramsden's, prompting parent company SSP to market the business for sale. On 19 January 2010, SSP sold Harry Ramsden's to Boparan Ventures Limited. BVL is the private investment vehicle for Ranjit Boparan . BVL planned to open another 100 units in the following five years and create 600 new jobs. On 29 November 2011, it

1014-479: A midst of plummeting sales in Japan, McDonald's added a shrimp burger to the Japanese menu. The choice to introduce a shrimp burger was no coincidence, as a 1989 study stated that world consumption of shrimp was "led by Japan." In March 2010, Taco Bell opened their first restaurant in India. Because non-consumption of beef is a cultural norm in light of India's Dharmic beliefs, Taco Bell had to tailor its menu to

1092-451: A practice still found in chains such as Krispy Kreme . A clean atmosphere was only part of Kroc's grander plan which separated McDonald's from the rest of the competition and attributes to their great success. Kroc envisioned making his restaurants appeal to suburban families. At roughly the same time as Kroc was conceiving what eventually became McDonald's Corporation, two Miami, Florida businessmen, James McLamore and David Edgerton, opened

1170-805: A presence in Ireland. In 2015, a study developed by Treated.com was published in the Irish Times , which named Swords in County Dublin as Ireland's 'fast-food capital'. Bageterie Boulevard is a Czech fast food chain, headquartered in Prague, which began in 2003 with the opening of its first location in the Dejvice district. Today, the brand operates numerous restaurants in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. American chains such as Domino's Pizza , McDonald's , Pizza Hut , and KFC have

1248-569: A result, they could produce hamburgers and fries constantly, without waiting for customer orders, and could serve them immediately; hamburgers cost 15 cents, about half the price at a typical diner . Their streamlined production method, which they named the "Speedee Service System" was influenced by the production line innovations of Henry Ford . By 1954, The McDonald brothers' stand was restaurant equipment manufacturer Prince Castle's biggest purchaser of milkshake blending machines. Prince Castle salesman Ray Kroc traveled to California to discover why

1326-426: A sense of reliability to their customers. This sense of reliability coupled with a positive customer experience brings customers to place trust in the company. This sense of trust leads to increased customer loyalty which gives the company a source of recurring business. When a person is presented with a choice of different restaurants to eat at, it is much easier for them to stick with what they know, rather than to take

1404-437: A short amount of time either in anticipation of upcoming orders (i.e., "to stock") or in response to actual orders (i.e., "to order"). Following standard operating procedures, pre-cooked products are monitored for freshness and disposed of if holding times become excessive. This process ensures a consistent level of product quality, and is key to delivering the order quickly to the customer and avoiding labor and equipment costs in

1482-578: Is a fish and chip shop , which specializes in fish and chips and also other foods such as kebabs and burgers. Fish and chip shops are usually owned independently. Burger brands like Wimpy remain, although the majority of branches became Burger King in 1989. In the Netherlands , walk-up fast-food restaurants with automatiek , a typical Dutch vending machine, are found throughout the country, most notably in Amsterdam . In this automatic format,

1560-432: Is certain, however, is that White Castle made the first significant effort to standardize the food production in, look of, and operation of fast-food hamburger restaurants. William Ingram's and Walter Anderson's White Castle System created the first fast-food supply chain to provide meat, buns, paper goods, and other supplies to their restaurants, pioneered the concept of the multi-state hamburger restaurant chain, standardized

1638-413: Is for the parent company to guarantee that these standards are being followed. Moreover, it is much more expensive to discharge a franchisee for noncompliance with company standards, than it is to discharge an employee for that same reason. As a consequence, parent companies tend to deal with franchisee violations in a more relaxed manner. Many companies also adapt to their different local areas to support

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1716-409: Is generally owned either by the parent company of the fast-food chain or a franchisee – an independent party given the right to use the company's trademark and trade name. In the latter case, a contract is made between the franchisee and the parent company, typically requiring the franchisee to pay an initial, fixed fee in addition to a continual percentage of monthly sales. Upon opening for business,

1794-653: Is highly processed and prepared on a large scale from bulk ingredients using standardized cooking and production methods and equipment. It is usually rapidly served in cartons, bags, or in a plastic wrapping, in a fashion which reduces operating costs by allowing rapid product identification and counting, promoting longer holding time, avoiding transfer of bacteria, and facilitating order fulfillment. In most fast-food operations, menu items are generally made from processed ingredients prepared at central supply facilities and then shipped to individual outlets where they are cooked (usually by grill, microwave, or deep-frying) or assembled in

1872-534: Is the group company, which owns all of the couple's subsidiary holdings. An undercover investigation by ITV News and The Guardian in September 2017 found workers illegally changing the slaughter dates — and hence the use-by dates — at a 2 Sisters plant in West Bromwich . 2 Sisters Food Group is a Birmingham, England-based food-manufacturing company. Established in 1993 by Ranjit Singh Boparan as

1950-513: Is their staple fast food. Fast food In Pakistan varies. There are many international chains serving fast food, including Nandos , Burger King, KFC, McDonald's, Domino's Pizza , Fatburger , Dunkin' Donuts, Subway, Pizza Hut, Hardee's, Telepizza , Steak Escape and Gloria Jean's Coffees . In addition to the international chains, in local cuisine people in Pakistan like to have biryani , bun kebabs , Nihari , kebab rolls etc. as fast food. In

2028-552: Is usually American fast-food chains expanding into Canada, Canadian chains such as Tim Hortons have expanded into 22 states in the United States, but are more prominent in border states such as New York and Michigan . Tim Hortons has started to expand to other countries outside of North America. The Pita Pit franchise originated in Canada and has expanded to the United States and other Countries. The Canadian Extreme Pita franchise sells low fat and salt pita sandwiches with stores in

2106-618: The Harry Ramsden's fish and chip shop chain. After attempting a turnaround under new MD Chris Sullivan in 2008, on 19 January 2010 SSP sold Harry Ramsden's to Boparan Ventures Ltd, the private investment vehicle of Boparan. BVL announced plans to open another 100 units in the next five years, and create 600 new jobs. In January 2016, Boparan Restaurant Holdings (BRH) acquired the three-strong Cinnamon Collection chain of restaurants in London, an upmarket Indian outlet. In April 2016,

2184-617: The Jewish Shabbat ; there is also a kosher McDonald's in Argentina . In Egypt , Indonesia , Morocco , Saudi Arabia , Malaysia , Pakistan , and Singapore , all menu items are halal . Many fast-food operations have more local and regional roots, such as White Castle in the Midwest United States, along with Hardee's (owned by CKE Restaurants , which also owns Carl's Jr. , whose locations are primarily on

2262-685: The "Chicken King" in the West Midlands, he has an estimated personal fortune of £600 million. Born in August 1966 in Bilston , West Midlands , Boparan left school aged 16 with few qualifications. He started working in a butchers shop, and founded 2 Sisters Food Group in 1993 with a small bank loan. Still resident today in the West Midlands, he began expanding West Bromwich -based 2 Sisters Food Group through its holding company Boparan Holdings, which he jointly owns with his wife. Boparan Holdings

2340-658: The Boparan Private Office acquired Irish Turkey business Grove Farm. In June 2016, the supermarket chain Tesco announced that it was to sell its 15-venue Giraffe Restaurants chain to Boparan Restaurants, for "an undisclosed sum", three years after it bought the chain for £50 million. In September 2016, it was announced Singh's Private Office (Boparan Private Office) was to acquire turkey producer Bernard Matthews for £87.5m. In October 2016, Singh's Private Office added to its restaurant and dining portfolio with

2418-839: The Burger King market found that this name was already a registered trademark to a takeaway food shop in Adelaide . Thus, the Burger King Australian market was forced to pick another name, selecting the Hungry Jack's brand name. Prior to this, the Australian fast-food market consisted primarily of privately owned take-away shops. In New Zealand , the fast-food market began in the 1970s with KFC (opened 1971), Pizza Hut (1974), and McDonald's (1976), and all three remain popular today. Burger King and Domino's entered

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2496-626: The Harry Ramsden's 34-strong estate, including 15 standalone restaurants, plus a combination of franchises in the UK and in Malaysia. In 2010, the chain was the focus of an episode of the Channel 4 television series Undercover Boss . The then-CEO of the company, Marija Simovic, posed as a new starter in a variety of locations – Swindon , Merry Hill Shopping Centre , Blackpool , Southampton and Great Yarmouth – to try to understand why

2574-456: The Japanese fast food company Yoshinoya , started in Tokyo in 1899. Today, American-founded fast-food chains such as McDonald's ( est. 1940) and KFC (est. 1952) are multinational corporations with outlets across the globe. Variations on the fast-food restaurant concept include fast-casual restaurants and catering trucks . Fast-casual restaurants have higher sit-in ratios, offering

2652-509: The McDonald's Corporation's size to force suppliers to conform to this ethos. Other prominent international fast-food companies include Burger King, the number two hamburger chain in the world, known for promoting its customized menu offerings ( Have it Your Way ). Another international fast-food chain is KFC, which sells chicken-related products and is the number 1 fast-food company in the People's Republic of China. A fast-food chain restaurant

2730-788: The Philippines, fast-food is the same as in the US. However, the only difference is that they serve Filipino dishes and a few American products being served Filipino-style. Jollibee is the leading fast-food chain in the country with 1,000 stores nationwide. Most international fast-food chains like Subway, McDonald's, Burger King etc. are represented in major Russian cities. There are also local chains like Teremok specializing in Russian cuisine or having elements of it added into their menu. Saudi Arabia has many international fast-food chains including KFC, Burger King, McDonald's and many others. However,

2808-889: The Portland, Oregon area. Also, Whataburger is a popular burger chain in the American South, and Jack in the Box is located in the West and South. Canada pizza chains Topper's Pizza and Pizza Pizza are primarily located in Ontario . Coffee chain Country Style operates only in Ontario, and competes with the famous coffee and donut chain Tim Hortons . Maid-Rite restaurant is one of the oldest chain fast-food restaurants in

2886-556: The UK included Hong Kong, Australia, Epcot and Saudi Arabia. A franchise deal with Granada motorway services to develop kiosk -style units ultimately led to Granada Ltd buying Harry Ramsden's for £20 million in October 1999. When acquired by Granada, Harry Ramsden's comprised four company-owned restaurants, twenty-five franchises and sixteen Henry Higgins units. Granada expanded Harry Ramsden's into motorway locations. Some franchise territories infringed onto motorways, so Granada bought

2964-508: The US in 1955 (1974 in the UK). It has become a phenomenally successful enterprise in terms of financial growth, brand-name recognition, and worldwide expansion. Ray Kroc, who bought the franchising license from the McDonald brothers, pioneered concepts which emphasized standardization. He introduced uniform products, identical in all respects at each outlet, to increase sales. Kroc also insisted on cutting food costs as much as possible, eventually using

3042-402: The US will reach $ 142 billion in sales in 2006, a 5% increase over 2005. In comparison, the full-service restaurant segment of the food industry is expected to generate $ 173 billion in sales. Fast food has been losing market share to so-called fast-casual restaurants, which offer more robust and expensive cuisines. McDonald's , a fast-food supplier, opened its first franchised restaurant in

3120-664: The United Kingdom pavilion. Branded and operated by Harry Ramsden's, the restaurant was added to provide traditional fish and chips in time for the park's Millennium celebration. The branding remained until a renovation in 2006, when its name became Yorkshire County Fish Shop, in a nod to the original UK restaurant. Despite the name change, the location was still sponsored and operated by Harry Ramsden's until 2010. By April 2006, Compass had spun off its motorway service stations to Moto, bought by Macquarie Bank of Sydney , Australia. Its specialist airports and railways division, SSP,

3198-1107: The United States West Coast); Krystal , Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits , Cook Out , and Zaxby's restaurants in the American Southeast; Raising Cane's in Louisiana and other mostly Southern states; Hot 'n Now in Michigan and Wisconsin; In-N-Out Burger (in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Texas, with a few locations in Oregon) and Original Tommy's chains in Southern California; Dick's Drive-In in Seattle, Washington and Arctic Circle in Utah and other western states; Halo Burger around Flint, Michigan and Burgerville in

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3276-640: The United States. Founded in 1926, their specialty is a loose meat hamburger. Maid-Rites can be found in the midwest - mainly Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri. International brands dominant in North America include McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's , the number three burger chain in the USA; Dunkin' Donuts , a New England –based chain; automobile oriented Sonic Drive-In 's from Oklahoma City ; Starbucks , Seattle-born coffee-based fast-food beverage corporation; KFC and Taco Bell , which are both part of

3354-511: The Wetherby Whaler name. BVL have continued to invest in the Harry Ramsden's brand, with their Bournemouth branch briefly holding the title of World's Largest Fish and Chip Restaurant, seating 417 across its restaurant, cafe and terrace, before being surpassed in 2017. During August 2019, Boparan Ventures Limited sold Harry Ramsden's to rival Deep Blue Restaurants for an undisclosed sum. The move saw Reigate -based Deep Blue acquire

3432-599: The acquisition of part of the 1950s-themed restaurant chain Ed's Easy Diner. Ranjit Boparan received an honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent University in July 2015, "in recognition of his significant contribution to the food manufacturing industry, to education and the development of his workforce, and for his philanthropic interests." In April 2008, his son Antonio Singh Boparan was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to 21 months in jail for dangerous driving which had led to

3510-526: The appointment of Boparan as the company's chairman in April 2011. On 13 May 2011 the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange, and taken private under Boparan Holdings. FishWorks is a seafood restaurant chain, originally started by Mitch Tonks. In April 2006, Compass Group sold its specialist airports and railways division SSP for £1,822 million to EQT AB of Sweden, including

3588-544: The business from a single restaurant in Yorkshire to an international chain. In 1989, following a decision by their bank to withdraw funding, the management floated the company on the London Stock Exchange . The public offer was over-subscribed two and a half times over. The next ten years saw rapid expansion throughout the UK and worldwide, through company-owned and franchised restaurants. Locations outside

3666-399: The business was sold to Harry Ramsden's long term business partner Eddie Stokes for the (then) large sum of £37,500, and subsequently in 1965 to Essex -based Associated Fisheries. In 1988, the company, which still comprised the original Guiseley fish and chips premises, was bought by Merryweathers, led by Chairmen John Barnes and Richard Richardson. Barnes and Richardson led the transition of

3744-486: The company had purchased almost a dozen of the units as opposed to the normal one or two found in most restaurants of the time. Enticed by the success of the McDonald's concept, Kroc signed a franchise agreement with the brothers and began opening McDonald's restaurants in Illinois. By 1961, Kroc had bought out the brothers and created what is now the modern McDonald's Corporation. One of the major parts of his business plan

3822-425: The company was struggling. At the end of the programme, Simovic promised big changes in a bid to turn around the company's fortunes, along with promoting a number of employees who had impressed her. Simovic left the company in 2011. The Harry Ramsden's brand is licensed to Princes Group for tinned mushy peas and to Birds Eye for frozen fish. Fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant , also known as

3900-604: The country to deal with the demand. Automats remained extremely popular throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The company also popularized the notion of "take-out" food, with their slogan "Less work for Mother". Most historians agree that the American company White Castle was the first fast-food outlet, starting in Wichita, Kansas in 1916 with food stands and founding in 1921, selling hamburgers for five cents apiece from its inception and spawning numerous competitors and emulators. What

3978-465: The day, namely breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. Siu mei is offered throughout the day. Dai pai dong and traditional Hong Kong street food may be considered close relatives of the conventional fast-food outlet. Ranjit Singh Boparan Ranjit Singh Boparan ( Punjabi : ਰਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੋਪਰਨ, born 24 August 1966) is a British businessman, and the founder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group with his wife Baljinder Kaur Boparan. Known as

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4056-464: The design. Collaborative design techniques, such as rapid visualization and computer-aided design of restaurant kitchens are now being used to establish equipment specifications that are consistent with restaurant operating and merchandising requirements. In the United States, consumers spent about $ 110 billion on fast food in 2000 (which increased from $ 6 billion in 1970). The National Restaurant Association forecasts that fast-food restaurants in

4134-642: The dietary distinctions of Indian culture by replacing all of the beef with chicken. By the same token, completely meatless options were introduced to the menu due to the prevalence of vegetarianism throughout the country. Multinational corporations typically modify their menus to cater to local tastes, and most overseas outlets are owned by native franchisees. McDonald's in India , for example, uses chicken and paneer rather than beef and pork in their burgers because Hinduism traditionally forbids eating beef. In Israel some McDonald's restaurants are kosher and respect

4212-491: The first of which opened in 1896, Harry Ramsden's website claims their business to be "Britain's longest-established restaurant chain". The business was started by Harry Ramsden (10 February 1888 – 1963) in 1928 in a wooden hut in White Cross, Guiseley , West Yorkshire , northern England. Three years later, he moved into a new premises, complete with fitted carpets, oak panelled walls, and chandeliers . The original hut

4290-528: The founders and owners of the chain, Keith G. Cramer and his wife's uncle Matthew Burns, opened their first stores around a piece of equipment known as the Insta-Broiler. The Insta-Broiler oven proved so successful at cooking burgers, they required all of their franchises to carry the device. By 1959 McLamore and Edgarton were operating several locations within the Miami-Dade area and were growing at

4368-525: The franchisee oversees the day-to-day operations of the restaurant and acts as a manager of the store. Once the contract expires, the parent company may choose to "renew the contract, sell the franchise to another franchisee, or operate the restaurant itself." In most fast-food chains, the number of franchised locations exceeds the number of company owned locations. Fast-food chains rely on consistency and uniformity, in internal operations and brand image, across all of their restaurant locations in order to convey

4446-510: The franchises back. In 2000, Compass merged with Granada. Under Compass, the business was expanded into motorway service station kiosks, contract catering locations such as schools, Post Office canteens, Little Chef , Butlins , and Haven Holidays . The last Harry Ramsden's on the motorway network, at Gretna Green , closed in August 2022. In 1999, the company began operating a quick-service kiosk in Walt Disney World's Epcot in

4524-716: The front counter or drive through in real time. Wireless systems allow orders placed at drive through speakers to be taken by cashiers and cooks. Drive through and walk through configurations will allow orders to be taken at one register and paid at another. Modern point of sale systems can operate on computer networks using a variety of software programs. Sales records can be generated and remote access to computer reports can be given to corporate offices, managers, troubleshooters, and other authorized personnel. Food service chains partner with food equipment manufacturers to design highly specialized restaurant equipment, often incorporating heat sensors , timers, and other electronic controls into

4602-411: The go" and often does not require traditional cutlery and is eaten as a finger food. Common menu items at fast-food outlets include fish and chips , sandwiches , pitas , hamburgers , fried chicken , french fries , chicken nuggets , tacos , pizza , and ice cream , although many fast-food restaurants offer "slower" foods like chili , mashed potatoes , and salads . Modern commercial fast food

4680-501: The individual stores. Because of commercial emphasis on taste, speed, product safety, uniformity, and low cost, fast-food products are made with ingredients formulated to achieve an identifiable flavor, aroma, texture, and "mouth feel" and to preserve freshness and control handling costs during preparation and order fulfillment. This requires a high degree of food engineering . The use of additives , including salt, sugar, flavorings and preservatives , and processing techniques may limit

4758-540: The larger Canadian cities. Other Canadian fast-food chains such as Manchu Wok serve North American style Asian foods; this company is located mainly in Canada and the US, with other outlets on US military bases on other continents. Harvey's is a Canadian-only burger restaurant chain, present in every province. Australia's fast-food market began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the opening of several American franchises including KFC (1967), Pizza Hut (1970), and McDonald's (1971), followed by Burger King . However,

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4836-589: The largest restaurant conglomerate in the world, Yum! Brands ; and Domino's Pizza , a pizza chain known for popularizing home delivery of fast food. Subway is known for their sub sandwiches and are the largest restaurant chain to serve such food items. Quiznos a Denver-based sub shop is another fast-growing sub chain, yet with over 6,000 locations it is still far behind Subway's 34,000 locations. Other smaller sub shops include Blimpie , Jersey Mike's Subs , Mr. Goodcents, Jimmy John's , Potbelly Sandwich Shop , Penn Station , and Firehouse . A&W Restaurants

4914-537: The local customers. Strategic applies to the specific characteristics of the franchise that will change from the basic format followed by all to fit in the local area. For the most part, someone visiting a McDonald's in the United States will have the same experience as someone visiting a McDonald's in Japan. The interior design, the menu, the speed of service, and the taste of the food will all be very similar. However, some differences do exist to tailor to particular cultural differences. For example, in October 2005 during

4992-447: The look and construction of the restaurants themselves, and even developed a construction division that manufactured and built the chain's prefabricated restaurant buildings. The McDonald's Speedee Service System and, much later, Ray Kroc 's McDonald's outlets and Hamburger University all built on principles, systems and practices that White Castle had already established between 1923 and 1932. The hamburger restaurant most associated by

5070-571: The market later in the 1990s. Australian pizza chains Eagle Boys and Pizza Haven also entered the market in the 1990s, but their New Zealand operations were later sold to Pizza Hut and Domino's. A few fast-food chains have been founded in New Zealand, including Burger Fuel (founded 1995), Georgie Pie (founded 1977, but closed 1998 after falling into financial trouble and being bought out by McDonald's) and Hell Pizza (founded 1996). The United Kingdom's signature type of fast-food restaurant

5148-459: The most popular fast-food restaurant of Saudi Arabia is Albaik . Saudis regard Albaik as better than KFC. In Hong Kong, although McDonald's and KFC are quite popular, three major local fast-food chains provide Hong Kong-style fast food, namely Café de Coral , Fairwood , and Maxim MX . Café de Coral alone serves more than 300,000 customers daily. Unlike western fast-food chains, these restaurants offer four different menus at different times of

5226-517: The needs of the customers. Sometimes it is necessary for a franchisee to modify the way the restaurant/store runs to meet the needs of local customers. As referenced in Bodey's "Localization and Customer Retention for Franchise Service Systems" article, J. L. Bradach claims that a franchise will either use the tactical or strategic local response. Tactical applies to accounting for hiring of personnel and suppliers as well as financial decisions to adapt to

5304-412: The nutritional value of the final product. A value meal is a group of menu items offered together at a lower price than they would cost individually. A hamburger, side of fries, and drink commonly constitute a value meal—or combo depending on the chain. Value meals at fast-food restaurants are common as a merchandising tactic to facilitate bundling , up-selling , and price discrimination . Most of

5382-657: The opening of a fast-food restaurant called the Automat in New York. The Automat was a cafeteria with its prepared foods behind small glass windows and coin-operated slots. Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart had already opened the first Horn & Hardart Automat in Philadelphia in 1902, but their "Automat" at Broadway and 13th Street, in New York City, created a sensation. Numerous Automat restaurants were built around

5460-513: The public with the term "fast food" was created by two brothers originally from Nashua, New Hampshire . Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a barbecue drive-in in 1940 in the city of San Bernardino, California . After discovering that most of their profits came from hamburgers, the brothers closed their restaurant for three months and reopened it in 1948 as a walk-up stand offering a simple menu of hamburgers, french fries , shakes , coffee, and Coca-Cola , served in disposable paper wrapping. As

5538-473: The time they can be upgraded to a larger side and drink for a small fee. The perceived creation of a "discount" on individual menu items in exchange for the purchase of a "meal" is also consistent with the loyalty marketing school of thought . To make quick service possible and to ensure accuracy and security, many fast-food restaurants have incorporated hospitality point of sale systems . This makes it possible for kitchen crew people to view orders placed at

5616-523: Was announced that the original Harry Ramsden's restaurant in Guiseley would close, amid statements from the owners that it was losing money and that any refurbishment to make it profitable would not be viable. The restaurant closed on Monday 19 December 2011. In February 2012, it was announced that the Guiseley restaurant had been sold to the Wetherby Whaler group. It reopened on 22 May 2012 under

5694-486: Was demolished in 2012, as a result of its poor condition and asbestos content. The adjacent main restaurant, which replaced it, once held the Guinness World Record for the largest fish and chip shop in the world, seating 250 people and serving nearly a million customers a year. Harry Corbett of Sooty fame was a nephew of Harry Ramsden's, and played the piano in his uncle's original restaurant. In 1954,

5772-485: Was merging with Irish ready-made meals supplier, Greencore . According to industry web site, just-food.com, the company's shares rose more than 20% that day. The new company was to be called Essenta, with headquarters in Ireland but listed on the London Stock Exchange . However, after building up a 25% share holdings, on 21 January 2011 Boparan announced a £341M bid to buy Northern Foods, which succeeded in gaining sufficient shareholder support to proceed. This resulted in

5850-402: Was originally a United States and Canada fast-food brand, but it is currently an International fast-food corporation in several countries. In Canada the majority of fast-food chains are American owned or were originally American owned but have since set up a Canadian management/headquarters locations such as Panera Bread , Chipotle Mexican Grill , Five Guys , and Carl's Jr. Although the case

5928-568: Was purchased by McLamore and Edgerton who renamed the company Burger King. While fast-food restaurants usually have a seating area in which customers can eat the food on the premises, orders are designed to be taken away, and traditional table service is rare. Orders are generally taken and paid for at a wide counter, with the customer waiting by the counter for a tray or container for their food. A " drive-through " service can allow customers to order and pick up food from their cars. Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten "on

6006-585: Was sold for £1,822 million to EQT AB of Sweden (who also own Findus ). Harry Ramsden's was sold with the SSP business. Under the early years of SSP ownership, the business had to compete with other SSP brands for investment. In 2008, SSP recruited industry turnaround specialist Chris Sullivan as managing director. During 2009, Sullivan led a radical revision of the food on offer, improving quality, reducing wait times and removing menu items which were deemed to be more pub-restaurant than chip shop. The strategy delivered

6084-410: Was to promote cleanliness of his restaurants to growing groups of Americans that had become aware of food safety issues. As part of his commitment to cleanliness, Kroc often took part in cleaning his own Des Plaines, Illinois outlet by hosing down the garbage cans and scraping gum off the cement. Another concept Kroc added was great swaths of glass which enabled the customer to view the food preparation,

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