Food Roundup: Caribou Courts Decaf Drinkers, Local Chains Beat McDonald's, and More

(MoneyWatch)  Caribou courts decaf drinkers -- The Starbucks rival announced it would give away free decaf tomorrow after 12pm, in a ploy to pick up disgruntled Starbucks customers. Yesterday Starbucks announced it would stop keeping decaf on hand after that time because it was too wasteful. But Caribou says, "Decaf drinkers deserve better!" [Source: PR Newswire]

Regional fast food brands rank higher than McDonald's -- According to a Sandelman & Associates survey, customers prefer regional fast food chains to big players like Burger King or McDonald's. Panera and Chipotle were two of the few national chains that made the survey's top ten. [Source: Minyanville]

Lawsuit says Applebee's healthy menu items are misleading -- Lawyers have filed a class-action suit against Applebee's after a Scripps media investigation showed that items on the restaurant chain's Weight Watchers menu contained up to double the listed calories and eight times the listed amount of fat. Scripps also said it discovered similar problems at Taco Bell and Chili's restaurants, but as of yet those chains are not named in any related lawsuits. [Source: ScrippsNews]

Kellogg launches smaller cereal boxes in Detroit -- The company is testing boxes that use less packaging but hold the same amount of cereal. The new boxes are also supposed to help customers and stores save pantry and shelf space. Kellogg says it will test the new design for six months and continue working on the optimal cereal box. [Source: Progressive Grocer]

Girl Scouts sell fewer cookies for same price -- Like so many other companies lately, the Girl Scouts have shrunk the size of their products in stealthy ways. This year's boxes contain fewer cookies than last year's boxes, but cost the same amount -- a response to the rising cost of ingredients, according to the organization. [Source: CBS11 via So Good]