Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, is trimming its 2013 outlook on lowered China sales projections.

A scandal involving two of KFC China's small chicken suppliers hurt sales more than expected in the market, with sales at locations open at least a year expected to be down 6 percent, compared with the 4 percent drop previously forecast for this year. 

News of the so-called 45 Day Chicken food safety scare broke late last year, but Yum Brands says it stopped using chicken from suppliers in China that are now under a government investigation before the review was announced. Analysts expect the company to recover from the business hit in its biggest market. (Above, U.S. NBA star Jeremy Lin promotes KFC China.)

Public apologies by high-profile experts are rare, making this week's anti-GMO reversal — call it a GMea Culpa — by British environmentalist, author and Oxford University visiting research associate Mark Lynas particularly stunning.

Lynas spurred the anti-GMO movement in the mid-‘90s, continuing to argue as recently as 2008 that corporate greed was threatening Mother Earth and her inhabitants; but at this week's Oxford Farming Conference, he recanted his position in a very public way.

“I want to start with some apologies," he stated. "For the record, here and upfront, I apologise for having spent several years ripping up GM crops. I am also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the mid 1990s, and that I thereby assisted in demonising an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.”

“As an environmentalist, and someone who believes that everyone in this world has a right to a healthy and nutritious diet of their choosing, I could not have chosen a more counter-productive path. I now regret it completely. So I guess you’ll be wondering—what happened between 1995 and now that made me not only change my mind but come here and admit it?"Continue reading...

Domino's has a history of leading the pizza-delivery business, starting with its 30-minute guarantee many years ago. More recently, the brand has overhauled its recipe, its marketing and other essentials of its business model in an effort to stay ahead of the pack that also includes hard-charging Papa Johns and other worthy competitors.

So it's little surprise that Domino's has kicked off the new year looking for a way to press an advantage in another important area of the pizza business: online ordering, which now facilitates one-third of its U.S. orders. Wooing even more customers into online ordering is crucial in the first quarter, when TV viewing of college-football bowls, NFL playoff games, NCAA basketball and March Madness spurs pizza orders.

Domino's has just launched a limited-time campaign featuring a new "currency": Domino's Dollars. Customers who order two medium two-topping pizzas for $5.99 each via digital ordering — online, mobile or via phone apps — will receive $5 in the new Domino's Dollars that they can use toward their next online order within 10 days of receipt.Continue reading...

If innovation is the lifeblood of business, then General Mills will be pumping hard in the new year. The CPG giant released news about more than 100 new products that it will launch in its U.S. retail portfolio alone during its fiscal 2013.

General Mills would like to generate between 4 percent and 5 percent of its sales from new products "and we think we will be very much in that range," CEO Ken Powell told Wall Street analysts during a conference call this week, according to Ad Age. "We want to make sure that we are launching products that are bringing new consumers into [their brand] franchise, and we have steadily improved that number."

The new products range from new varieties of Fiber One products to a Snickerdoodles flavor of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies. And if there are some underlying themes to the whole list, they would be peanut butter and chocolate, along with fiber and protein, according to a General Mills blog post detailing the roster of new products.Continue reading...

If new products are the lifeblood of a mature business, then hearts at Kellogg's are pumping a mile a minute these days. The venerable cereal maker continues to tap into its innovative side with a bevy of new products on their way to grocery stores.

The new offerings build on the company's recent Krave chocolate cereal launch — its most successful in two decades. Kellogg struck gold beginning several years back by leveraging its Special K breakfast cereal into a weight-loss brand and adding a variety of new products under that brand, including nutrition bars, resulting in a hugely successful extension and rejuvenation of an old franchise.

Since then, Kellogg has continued to go back to the new-product well, especially combining its trusted and high-performing lineup of traditional brands with new approaches.

For example, one of the new versions of breakfast favorites, Pop-Tarts Oatmeal Delights, tries to take advantage of the steadily increasing appeal of oats as a better-for-you ingredient. Pop-Tarts Oatmeal Delights are sprinkled with toasted cinnamon-oats crumbles on a baked oat-flour crust, debuting in two flavors.

Another fave getting an update? Why, Scooby Doo, of course!Continue reading...

Take that, Hamburglar and all your little mischief-making fiends: McDonald's may already be back in the U.S. just one month after poor sales brought about the departure of the head of its U.S. operations.

McDonald's surprised the restaurant world by announcing a 2.5-percent jump in comparable-store sales in the United States, after analysts had expected a U.S. drop in sales of as much as 1 percent for the month.

The chain attributed the unexpected rise to the "ongoing popularity" of its breakfast in the U.S. along with "balance across everyday value offerings, premium menu options including the limited-time Cheddar Bacon Onion sandwiches, and the beverage lineup," according to McDonald's press release. Holiday cheer, despite stepping up around Thanksgiving, didn't really move the needle on sales.Continue reading...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been trying to get his citizens to live healthier lives (and consume less soda) so he’s probably not overly pleased about a new fast food branding heading to the Big Apple: the 60-year-old California-based Fatburger chain.

NYC already has 627 burger places, the New York Daily News reports, but Fatburger’s owners think they’ve got something special enough to separate them from the Shake Shacks, SmashBurgers, Five Guys, Steak 'n Shakes, and other burger-meisters.

Fatburger makes its sandwiches to order and serves up five different sizes, from a 2.5 ounce small to a monstrous, three-patty 24-ounce XXXL that’ll cost you about 2,000 calories (and more if you add on bacon, chili, and guacamole). Gothamist also notes that the “onion rings are ‘made from real onions’ and the shakes are hand-scooped.

So don’t expect Bloomberg to show up for the ribbon-cutting when Fatburger lands in Manhattan in the spring. Fatburger plans to open 10 lcoations across NYC in partnership with The Riese Organization, which operates more than 75 restaurants in NYC, including franchises for KFC, Pizza Hut, and TGIFridays.Continue reading...

It was leaked that it's coming this month, and now it's been confirmed: The McRib sandwich is returning to McDonald's American restaurants on Dec. 17 in a year-end boost for the chain and its new US head, Jeff Stratton. Let the line-ups begin and the McRib Locator get started.