Cracker Barrel is serving up a brand new rule for workers hitting the highway: With regards to meals, the corporate needs them to stay to its personal eating places.
In an inner message obtained by the Wall Avenue Journal, the corporate mentioned that “staff are anticipated to dine at a Cracker Barrel retailer for all or the vast majority of meals whereas touring, each time sensible, primarily based on location and schedule.”
The steering additionally bars the corporate from reimbursing alcohol purchases on enterprise journeys except employees pay out of pocket or get pre‑approval for particular events from senior management.
The Unbiased has contacted Cracker Barrel for remark.
The journey meal coverage comes as Cracker Barrel continues efforts to trim bills amid sagging visitors and income progress that has slowed in recent times. Cracker Barrel can be nonetheless feeling the consequences of its disastrous 2025 rebrand efforts, and now prospects are turning their ire towards modifications in its menu.
Cracker Barrel instructed staff to eat at its eating places on work journeys and mentioned alcohol is not going to be reimbursed except pre‑authorized (Getty Pictures)
In December, common diners complained about latest menu modifications, together with batch‑made cookies as an alternative of freshly rolled dough and inexperienced beans and sides ready in ovens somewhat than on the stovetop. Some prospects have gone so far as bringing their very own maple syrup to the restaurant as a result of they disapprove of the brand new choices.
The backlash in opposition to the chain started with a botched rebrand that induced Cracker Barrel to lose an estimated $94 million in market worth in a single day after the chain unveiled a brand new brand and branding technique in August. The corporate’s eliminated its longtime mascot, the person leaning on a barrel, often called Uncle Herschel, from its brand as a part of a broader minimalist rebrand.
MAGA influencers and conservative commentators branded the redesign as “woke,” and even President Donald Trump publicly urged the corporate to revert to its basic look.
Across the similar time, Cracker Barrel additionally introduced plans to modernize the interiors of its greater than 650 areas, which critics claimed stripped away the chain’s nostalgic identification.
The corporate rapidly acknowledged the backlash in a press release saying it might scrap the revamps.
“If the previous few days have proven us something, it’s how deeply folks care about Cracker Barrel. We’re actually grateful in your heartfelt voices,” the assertion learn. “You’ve additionally proven us that we might’ve completed a greater job sharing who we’re and who we’ll at all times be.”
It went on assuring Cracker Barrel diners that “the issues folks love most about our shops aren’t going anyplace: rocking chairs on the porch, a heat hearth within the fireplace, peg video games on the desk, distinctive treasures in our reward store, and classic Americana with antiques pulled straight from our warehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee.”
Later, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino mentioned the backlash made her really feel “fired by America.”