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A new range of limited-edition meals and beers will also be added to their menu. Rockpool Dining Group-owned The Bavarian is set to expand in Victoria through their upcoming site in Highpoint Shopping Centre in northwest Melbourne. The fast casual chain will celebrate the site’s opening on August 31 by distributing 500 hotdogs for free to customers. In addition, a new range of limited-edition meals and beers will be on their menu starting from September 22 to 27. “We’re thrilled to be opening just in time for Oktoberfest and to be bringing a one-of-a-kind dining experience to North West Melbourne,” Rockpool Dining Group CEO Thomas Pash said.

The latest offerings are available until September 23.

Their single scoop order now costs 0.50c more.

Its franchisees are expected to open five stores for each country in the next 12 months. Gelatissimo announced that they will open a number of stores in Bangladesh and India on September. “Making excellent gelato is a complex task and so is building a brilliant gelato business. With a quality artisan product, a simple in-store production system, local marketing and brand building campaigns and an ongoing training programme, we set all our franchisees up for success. Bangladesh and India represent big opportunities for us and our partners and we look forward to making it a sweet success,” Gelatissimo CEO Filipe Barbosa said in a statement. The expansion will be done in partnership with master franchisees Sangeeta Dumpeta from India and Nilesh Jamnadas from Bangladesh. “The stores will be fitted in the internationally recognisable Gelatissimo branding and serve the brand’s best loved flavours and products,” Dumpeta said. The ice cream chain currently has 45 stores in Australia and another 17 in other countries. India and Bangladesh will join Gelatissimo’s portfolio of international franchises along with Philippines, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and China  

Their new branch is the third to open of the 20 restaurants that the Bansal Group plans to establish in Queensland.

The software company explains how AI could drive a "personalised" in-restaurant customer experience.

Here is a summary of the most interesting QSR news stories of the week from around the world.

Find out what QSRs have been up to on social media this week.

The food delivery company said the move will give them "essential breathing space."

The drought is still affecting farmers especially in New South Wales and Queensland. Banjo’s Bakery Cafe launched a fundraising drive to help drought-affected farmers by extracting .50c from every traditional sandwich loaf sold from August 15 to September 15. The cafe also allows their customers to donate directly by placing ‘Dough for the Drought’ donation tins in their stores as well as donating through their website. The raised funds from purchased products, in-store and online donations will be given to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal. Banjo’s also recently opened two new stores in the past month. One opened up in Traralgon, Victoria while the latest opening, marked as their 40th store, is in Sippy Downs, Queensland.  

The fast food chain has previously replaced single-use plastic bags with recyclable paper bags. Subway has announced that it will continue to explore “a range of innovative measures” to further improve its operations in environmental sustainability and minimise waste. The fast food chain was recently cited in the 2018 Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation’s Annual Report for its packaging and environmental sustainability plan that has reportedly eliminated 76 tonnes of plastic bags and 300,000 kilograms of paper and cardboard from their operations. (Also read: Subway Australia eliminates plastic bags in sustainability push) “We’re taking steps to reduce single-use business to business packaging by increasing carton efficiency. We’re focused on increasing the number of items per carton, to reduce cardboard cartons used, including increasing napkins this year from 6000 to 6750 per carton saving over 4,600 cardboard cartons. Cutlery pack changes have also reduced cardboard cartons,” Ben Miles, Subway’s senior corporate social responsibility manager, said in a statement. Subway, which serves more than 1.6 million subs in Australia weekly, also encouraged customers to take steps in recycling. “For example, labelling on our salad bowls encourages active consumer engagement in packaging sustainability,” Miles added.  

The Mexican restaurant chain added another plant-based topping to their menu.

The competition will run until September 2. Looking to drive purchase and customer engagement, The Cheesecake Shop has launched their Father’s Day “Win Dad a Man Cave Upgrade” promotion where they will be giving away four $5,000 AUD cash prizes. According to the cheesecake brand, participants are eligible to participate by purchasing any item. The competition will be promoted through digital, social media, and in-store advertising. “Keeping promotions simple has been the key to our recent success. Words like win, free, free entry and cash figures have always played a role in promotional success,” The Cheesecake Shop general manager of marketing and operations Peter Dable said. “It has never been our intention to reinvent the wheel; rather, we want the wheel to be bigger, better, faster and more memorable.” The Father’s Day promo will be on-going until September 2. Winners will be announced after a week after on their Facebook pages.  

Share prices fell despite the "record profit" and increased dividend.

Private investment firm TDM Growth Partners will now have a minority stake in the growing Mexican brand.

Restaurants now have the opportunity to nominate their business for customers across Australia.