Everything you need to know…

A recent survey of over 3,000 Coeliac UK Members showed that over 58% felt that eating establishments do not offer clear gluten-free options, and 59% don't trust staff to know enough about preparing gluten-free food.

Compass Group is the largest foodservice company in the world, operating in 55 countries with annual revenues of over £11 billion.

In the wake of the Food Standards Agency's announcement of a pilot scheme to introduce calorie counting on menus the figures released by Fretwell-Downing Hospitality show more than 60% of restaurant chains have seen an increase in the demand for more information.

However there was a distinct 50:50 split in survey numbers when it comes to restaurants having a strategy in place. Of those that are further down the line, 46% are doing so primarily to capture competitor advantage.

While almost two-thirds stated they would display the nutritional information on their printed menus, 37% would also look to publish the dine-formation on their website while others would consider producing a separate sheet of data available on request.

Information from TNS Worldpanel shows that more and more consumers are buying frozen foods - the retail frozen food market is now worth £4.8 billion, with the market showing a 5.8% year on year growth.

Starbucks has said that profits during the first quarter of the financial year have dropped by a worrying 69% and as a result the coffee firm will cut over 6,700 jobs in 2009.

The global coffee chain reported net income of $64.3 million down from $208.1 million recorded for the same period last year.

Approximately 300 underperforming stores will be closed in 2009, with two-thirds of the closures executed in the US. This is in addition to the 600 US store closures announced in July 2008.

Subway now has over 30,000 stores globally.