Posted by admin under Eats & Treats on June 14th, 2012
My husband will always be #1 on my list of Grill Masters, but Eric at my local DQ® restaurant makes a mean burger too. I know that even when my husband is traveling, I can go to DQ and get an awesome burger. This month it’s the Sweet Apple BBQ GrillBurger™–delicious smoky BBQ sauce that is mixed with tangy apples, with pepper jack cheese and hickory smoked bacon, all atop a 100% beef GrillBurger. Plus I don’t have to clean up!
Long gone are the days you could only get dessert at a Dairy Queen® store, now you can get your whole meal without leaving. But, in the famous words of LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it. Go try one at your local DQ restaurant today!
My Great Aunt Joan and I shared the same birthday. As a kid, that was about the only thing I knew about my Great Aunt Joan, but I was a big fan of hers because every year, to commemorate our shared special day, she would send me a card with a crisp $5 bill inside.
All year I would look forward to that card. And when it arrived, the first stop in spending my birthday money was up the street at our neighborhood Dairy Queen® store. At that time, the mid-1970s, my favorite treat was a Mr. Misty® Kiss—a push-up-style novelty made in stores from a Mr. Misty slush (now known as an Arctic Rush® slush) poured into a plastic tube and then frozen solid. A straw inserted at the bottom of the tube pushed the treat up and out the top. They came in all the Mr. Misty drink flavors, but my first choice was always purple. And as it happened, a Mr. Misty Kiss purchase left me with most of my birthday money still in my pocket.
I recently was contacted by a DQ® operator in Georgia. He put me in touch with a regular customer, Gail, who had started a chain reaction with a random act of kindness at his DQ location. Gail goes through this DQ drive-thru lane at least three times a week to get treats for her mother-in-law and others who are in a nursing home down the street, because it always brightens their day. She randomly chose one day to pay for the person in the car behind her as well as for her own order. When she got back to the office, the DQ manager called to let her know that every person in the line of several cars behind her had paid for the person behind them until no one else was in line! The last person had even asked if she could pay for someone inside the store since there was no car behind her.
Posted by PR Wonk under Uncategorized on May 17th, 2012
Each year, on the first Saturday in May, tens of thousands of shareholders descend on Omaha, Neb., to attend the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting and hear pearls of investing wisdom from Warren Buffett, (a.k.a. the “Oracle of Omaha”) and his partner Charlie Munger. As part of the meeting, Berkshire companies host exhibit booths where shareholders can purchase such items as T-shirts and undergarments from Fruit of the Loom; get insurance quotes from GEICO; buy sets of GINZU knives or purchase kitchen utensils from Papered Chef.
Throughout the day at the Dairy Queen® booth, shareholders come to us to purchase Dilly® Bars, DQ® Fudge Bars and DQ Vanilla Orange Bars for $1 with proceeds from the sale going to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Our team of more than 40 employees, including our executive officers, provides hungry, but smiling customers with satisfying and delicious DQ treats. Typically we sell more than 16,000 individual treats in a little more than nine hours and this year was no exception. We often hear, “I can’t leave the meeting without getting my Dilly Bar” which always puts a smile on our faces.
The day is long, but we couldn’t have a better time greeting and interacting with the shareholders. And oh yeah, Warren stops by the booth before the meeting begins to purchase his favorite DQ Vanilla Orange Bar, which we have ready and waiting for him. At DQ, our investment philosophy is, “Always make sure the boss is happy.” And when you’re Warren Buffett and own the entire Dairy Queen system, how could you not be?
Posted by admin under Eats & Treats on April 5th, 2012
Pretty much I’m like Buddy the Elf — if it has sugar, I’ll eat it. Now, I’ve never gone to the extreme of drinking syrup or putting it on my spaghetti, but that’s not to say it hasn’t crossed my mind. The older I get, the more apparent it is that I need to eat everything in moderation and as part of a balanced diet. (Have I mentioned my BFF is a genius nutritionist?)
I think that is why 2011 was so hard and 2012 WILL be so hard. I spent 2011 taste testing all of the ridiculously creative and NEW products for 2012. 2012 will obviously be spent eating said ridiculously creative and new products. April’s Blizzard® of the Month is a new flavor, so there are 30 days of Mini Blizzard Treats coming my way there, followed by May’s Blizzard of the Month, which, in my opinion, will be second only to my most very favorite ever. I can’t mention my favorite by name because we get inundated with comments about bringing it back. Is it Harry Potter where they have a character named HeWho (He who shall not be named)? Well this would be ItWhich (shall not be named). Oh I love ItWhich.
Also making a comeback this year is one of my all time favorites, the Frozen Hot Chocolate. Rich cocoa fudge AND DQ® soft serve with a swirl of one of your favorite flavors: Double Fudge, Caramel or Peanut Butter? Yes please!
This is just the tip of the iceberg; we also have a ton of new and delicious food items hitting your local store throughout the year. Yep, 2012 will be pretty sweet for DQ and pretty sweet for me!
A woman recently wrote to the Dairy Queen® corporate headquarters to explain her DQ® Smile and Story. Her husband is a Major in the U.S. Army and recently returned from Afghanistan. While he was deployed, she was home with their seven-year-old twin boys, four-year-old daughter and was expecting their fourth child a month before her husband was to return to the U.S. She spoke to the struggles at home while her husband was away, but says on bad days she would load the kids in the van, turn on a movie and head to the local DQ restaurant drive-thru to order their favorite treats. She said it was 20 minutes of peace, quiet and happiness.
How does going to your local DQ restaurant make you happy?
Every once in a while we at the Dairy Queen® home office get a customer request for the return of the “Goony Bird Sundae.” Sadly, this particular Royal Treat® will not be returning any time soon to the DQ® menu. But just for fun, here’s a picture (circa 1959) of this, uh, unique treat:
If you were a fan, please, tell us what you liked about this “crazy mixed-up taste triumph of toasted marshmallows and coconut”!
I love PIE — and I love that we can have fun with math on Pi Day. Pi equals 3.1415926535… and we celebrate Pi Day on 3/14.
Pi represents the relationship between a circle’s diameter (its width) and its circumference (the distance around the circle). I don’t want to spoil the fun you will have searching the Internet, or your math textbook, for interesting facts and information about Pi. I confess to not being much of a numbers gal; still, I find days like this help pique my interest. Who doesn’t like pie and how much dinner time discussion can you get out of learning (or in my case, re-learning) about Pi while eating a piece of pie?
We have DELICIOUS Pie Blizzard® Treats at DQ® stores and restaurants. Why, you could even use Pi to calculate the volume of the DQ Cup in which your favorite DQ Pie Blizzard Treat arrives. Which flavor will you choose? Banana Cream Pie Blizzard Treat? French Silk Pie Blizzard Treat?
American Dairy Queen Corporation believes in giving back to the communities in which we live, work and do business – it’s simply one of the core values of our corporation. Recently ADQ hosted a group of employees from The Cookie Cart, a nonprofit organization that trains and supports North Minneapolis youth in their first paid job experience.
Our Research & Development department put on a fun and educational program about careers in food science. And of course, everyone got to make their own Blizzard® Treat!
Who would have thought back in 1998, when the DQ® system opened its first location in China, that just over 20 years later, the brand would be celebrating the opening of its 500th location in the Hu Dong finance district in Shanghai? Thanks to the commitment to growth, quality service and products, as well as awesome franchise partners including Mr. Marvin Hung of Hop Hing Fast Food; Mr. Li Ping of Shanghai Shida Catering Management; Mr. Lee of the Xinjiang San Run Yuan Catering Company; and Mr. Norris Man of the Centriod Group, the DQ system is thriving in China.
According to John Gainor, president and CEO of International Dairy Queen, Inc., who attended this milestone event on Feb. 9, 2012, “China is a tremendous expansion market for the DQ system, which is attributed in large part to our strong alliances with our development partners. However, we cannot forget that it is our customers who have embraced our wonderful brand and have made it part of their lives.”
The Dairy Queen® system has nearly 1,000 locations in 18 countries outside of the United States and Canada, and more than 6,000 stores world-wide. In addition, at least another 100 locations are planned for China in 2012.
Whether it is enjoying your favorite Blizzard® Treat, having lunch with friends and family or celebrating at home with a DQ Cake, the Dairy Queen system’s mission is to “create positive memories for all who touch the DQ brand,” no matter where you might be in the world.
