Consumer and retail news: 10 things you need to know today
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1. Chipotle closed a restaurant after 4 employees got sick Chipotle Mexican Grill, which is trying to recover from a series of food-borne illness outbreaks, temporarily shut down a Massachusetts restaurant after four employees fell sick.
2. Chick-fil-A is making major changes to its sauces
Chick-fil-A is adding a new sweet-and-spicy Sriracha sauce and changing the recipe for three of its core sauces, barbecue, buttermilk ranch, and buffalo.
3. People are furious about this McDonald's ad showing a gay son coming out to his dad
Last Friday, McDonald's Taiwan posted an ad for McCafe to its Facebook page, featuring a young man coming out to his father. But not all viewers support the ad's heartwarming message.
4. Chick-fil-A is launching its own version of a Starbucks favorite
Chick-fil-A is launching its own version of a frappuccino nationwide on Monday. The frosted coffee, as Chick-fil-A calls it, combines the chain's cold-brew coffee and vanilla "Ice Dream" frozen yogurt.
5. There's a better alternative to Shake Shack that Wall Street is ignoring
As Shake Shack shares are falling, it’s time for investors to look to less over-hyped options. Prime among these: Sonic Drive-In. Sonic Drive-In is the fourth-largest burger chain in the US, after McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s, with $4 billion in sales in 2015.
6. Starbucks recalls breakfast sandwiches in 3 states
Breakfast sandwiches are being recalled from Starbucks in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas on Thursday and Friday for potential listeria contamination, reports CNN.
7. Whole Foods to add solar farms to some store rooftops
In an effort to be more green, Whole Foods plans to add rooftop solar systems to 100 of its locations — which will keep the company's image and save money, reports the New York Times.
8. One of the country's biggest meat processors is cutting the number of antibiotics in its cattle
Cargill Inc., a top U.S. meat processor, started eliminating 20 percent of antibiotics deemed important for human medicine and farm animals from its four feed yards in Texas, Kansas and Colorado, according to the company.
9. Walmart and Target are refusing to surrender to Amazon
Taking on Amazon requires cash and a long-term commitment. The challenge for Walmart and Target is that it's not simply about getting to where Amazon is, but getting to where it will be.
10. We tried Dairy Queen's fast-food menu that Warren Buffett recently made over, and it's the worst in the industry
Warren Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, recently invested in Dairy Queen, and in July we reported on the company's menu makeover. We decided to check it out for ourselves to see how it compares to its fast-food counterparts. We were totally disappointed.