Last updated on January 13th, 2016 at 11:42 am
Foodservice News In Brief…
Panera Bread’s entire U.S. bakery-cafe soup menu no longer contains artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives. Common commercial soup ingredients—such as hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, maltodextrin and sodium phosphate—no longer appear in any of the company’s bakery-cafe soups. Panera says its chefs also took the opportunity to focus on improving overall ingredient quality, such as moving from conventional bleached flour to unbleached wheat flour. In other company news, Panera Bread closed two company-owned locations in the greater Boston area. Panera now has three company-owned stores in Massachusetts, including sites in Chestnut Hill, Bedford and Cambridge. The chain has several franchise-owned locations across the region, with dozens more owned by franchisees…
UFood Grill of Boston has named Philip Kafka corporate executive chef and Kathryn (Kat) Kaufman director of operations and training. The additions are part of an aggressive franchise expansion plan for the UFood Grill network. Kafka brings more than 20 years of culinary and restaurant experience to UFood Grill. He most recently served as the directory of culinary innovation for Cosi Brands, where he spearheaded development of culinary recipes, standard operating procedures, nutritional database management, brand strategy and product manufacturing development…
Patriot National, a leading provider of technology and outsourcing solutions, has partnered with ProSight Specialty Insurance of Morristown, New Jersey, a provider of customized insurance solutions, to launch a new restaurants, bars and taverns program, adding to Patriot’s national hospitality focus. The program encompasses property, general liability and liquor liability.
