The Vancouver-based burger and root beer chain on Tuesday booked total sales of $245.16 million for the quarter ending March 26, up 0.6 per cent from $243.8 million in the year-earlier period, for net income of $5.42 million, up from $3.33 million.

The income fund said its small sales bump came mainly from the net gain of 23 restaurants in its royalty pool as of Jan. 5, offset in part by two fewer days of sales in the quarter. The chain’s royalty pool now sits at 861 stores covering all 10 provinces and two territories.

Against that, the company said, “there was poor winter weather in most regions in the quarter and this plus the continuing weak foodservice industry in Canada, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan, negatively impacted sales.”

Same-store sales growth, which many fast food chains in expansion mode prefer to use as their barometer of improving or declining sales, was “essentially flat,” coming in at negative 0.3 per cent, compared to positive 8.6 per cent in the year-earlier period.

“We continue to see economic challenges in the important Alberta and Saskatchewan markets that impact our overall results,” A+W Food Services CEO Paul Hollands said in the company’s release.

However, he added, the chain is “aggressively pursuing growth opportunities in the business,” specifically noting the chain’s launch of all-day breakfast sandwiches and wraps at the end of February.

The response to all-day breakfast menu options “has been exciting,” Hollands said in the release, not offering specific data.

The company in recent years has also revamped its ingredient sourcing and promoted its menu items accordingly — among them beef raised without the use of hormones or steroids, eggs from hens fed a diet without animal byproducts, chicken raised without the use of antibiotics and bacon from hogs raised without the use of antibiotics.

The changes to the chain’s beef sourcing policy led it to expand its supply lines beyond Canada to also include producers in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand who could meet the new requirements, which in turn led to backlash from some quarters in the Canadian livestock sector. –– AGCanada.com Network

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The Vancouver-based income fund on Tuesday reported gross sales of $243.8 million among the 838 restaurants in its royalty pool for its first quarter ending March 27, up from $202.4 million from 814 restaurants in the year-earlier quarter ending March 22, 2015.

The fund booked net income of $3.33 million for the quarter, up from $2.03 million in the year-earlier period, and on Wednesday announced a four per cent increase in monthly cash distributions to 13 cents per unit, up from 12.5.

Same-store sales growth, a better benchmark than overall sales for expanding restaurant chains, rose 8.6 per cent in the quarter, compared to 9.1 per cent in the year-earlier period.

“We are very pleased to report that our strong trend of positive same store sales growth dating back to 2013 has continued into 2016”, A+W Food Services CEO Paul Hollands said in the company’s release.

That year, he said, lines up with the year A+W “became an industry leader for natural ingredients by responding to Canadians’ interest and desire for more natural foods.”

The chain since 2013 has begun marketing its beef as raised without the use of hormones and steroids, its eggs as coming from hens fed only a diet without animal byproducts, and its chicken meat as coming from birds raised without the use of antibiotics.

During the quarter ending March 27, the chain began marketing its bacon as coming from hogs raised without the use of antibiotics.

The company said Tuesday its move marks “another first for A+W, making it the only quick-service restaurant (QSR) in North America to serve pork raised this way.”

While the company drew some social media fire from its September 2013 beef announcement, after shifting some of its beef sourcing to U.S. and Australian suppliers, it promotes its bacon as coming from pork “farmed locally in Canada.”

Just after the quarter ended, A+W also announced itself as the first national restaurant chain to serve French’s tomato ketchup and French’s Classic yellow mustard in all of its restaurants across Canada.

New Jersey-based French’s in recent months began promoting its ketchup and mustard products in the Canadian market as made strictly with Canadian tomatoes and mustard seed.

The French’s condiments, A+W said, are also “made without preservatives or artificial flavours and colours.”

“The tomato farmers in Leamington (Ontario) and mustard seed farmers in Saskatchewan work hard to produce the best quality ingredients for French’s, and we are proud to add these locally-sourced products to the menu at all of our Canadian restaurants,” A+W food services chief operating officer Susan Senecal said in a release March 29. — AGCanada.com Network

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The A+W Revenue Royalties Income Fund on Friday reported net income of $21.32 million on $1.061 billion in reported sales from the 814 restaurants in its royalty pool for fiscal 2015, up from $16.99 million on $957.19 million from 790 stores in 2014.

Cracking the $1 billion mark in sales in 2015 was an “important milestone” for the business, the company said in a release.

“Our strategic initiatives aimed at growing market share in the quick-service restaurant burger market continue to be extremely successful,” Paul Hollands, CEO for A+W Food Services, said. “Our relentless focus on bringing better ingredients to our guests is having a powerful impact.”

The chain since 2013 has shifted its supply lines to beef “raised without the use of hormones or steroids,” eggs from hens “fed only a vegetarian diet without animal byproducts,” chicken “raised without the use of antibiotics” and organic and Fair Trade coffee.

The company’s growth strategy has also involved accelerating new restaurant openings, with 32 during 2015, down from 37 in 2014.

The chain’s same-store sales growth — considered a better bellwether of progress for multi-store restaurant chains, compared to overall sales — came in at 7.6 per cent for the year, up from 6.3 per cent in 2014, and at 5.3 per cent for the last 16 weeks of 2015, down from 7.9 per cent in the year-earlier period.

The Vancouver-based income fund also boosted its monthly cash distributions twice in 2015, from 11.7 cents per unit to 12.1 cents effective in July, and to 12.5 cents effective in October. The October increaase puts the fund’s annualized distribution rate at $1.50 per unit, up from $1.404 per unit at the end of 2014. — AGCanada.com Network

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Global sales at established restaurants were up a much better-than-expected four per cent in the third quarter, ending six straight quarters of flat or falling results. And, Easterbrook said, the trend would continue in the current quarter.

Shares of the world’s biggest restaurant chain by sales jumped more than eight per cent to a record $110.88 in early trading as a renewed focus on value and service helped business around the world (all figures US$).

“The progress we have made in a short amount of time gives me confidence we’re making the right moves to turn around our business and reposition McDonald’s as a modern, progressive burger company,” Easterbrook said on a conference call with analysts and investors.

The U.S., McDonald’s No. 1 market for profit, reported a surprise 0.9 per cent increase in sales at restaurants open at least 13 months. McDonald’s said a new Premium Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Deluxe sandwich and its decision to swap butter for margarine on its Egg McMuffins helped the division break a two-year streak of quarterly sales declines.

China’s same-restaurant sales, which had plummeted after a food safety scandal in July 2014, were up a whopping 26.8 per cent for the quarter, helped by a focus on value and breakfast.

Australia, the U.K. and Canada also contributed to the quarterly rise in sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, after McDonald’s tweaked menus, improved service and refined its offering of inexpensive food.

Easterbrook, now eight months into his tenure as CEO, has announced plans to speed up service, simplify menus and boost food quality.

In the U.S., he rolled out all-day breakfast, began switching to chicken from birds raised without important antibiotics and raised wages for workers in restaurants run by the corporation.

On Thursday, Easterbrook said winning back customers remains a top priority in the U.S., where competition is fierce and speed is key.

All-day breakfast, launched Oct. 6, is part of that effort.

While that move appears to have boosted traffic, some domestic franchisees complain that all-day breakfast and the company’s plans to customize sandwiches is complicating operations and slowing service.

Easterbrook said restaurant operators have embraced all-day breakfast, and that an early read suggests it is “an incremental profitable business” wooing new and existing customers.

On the other hand, McDonald’s said its decision to raise wages and improve benefits for 90,000 workers in U.S. company-operated restaurants took a bite out of operating income.

Third-quarter net income was up 23 per cent to $1.31 billion, or $1.40 per share. Revenue fell five per cent to $6.62 billion.

Chief financial officer Kevin Ozan said the strong U.S. dollar would ding fourth-quarter earnings per share by eight to 10 cents. McDonald’s gets about one-third of revenue and more than half of its operating income from outside the U.S.

— Lisa Baertlein and Yashaswini Swamynathan are Reuters correspondents covering the U.S. restaurant and consumer sectors from Los Angeles and Bangalore respectively.

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