In 2025, Inspire celebrated seven years of igniting and nourishing flavorful experiences. From Allies and Achievers to Mavericks, Good Citizens and Visionaries, we’re thankful for the team members and franchisees who showed up and made a difference for our guests and in our communities all year long.
Iconic Brands
2025 was a big year for protein-forward meals, and Arby’s stole the spotlight in new and meaty ways.
Fans couldn’t get enough of the first-of-its-kind Steak Nuggets: tender, juicy, bite-sized pieces of steak that broke through with big moments at the 2025 Unwell Expo in Las Vegas, the South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series race, and Arby’s Partners’ social media.
Cheesesteak was another hot new menu item, prepared with premium quality Angus steak that embodies the spirit of quality American beef. Plus, with the return of fan-favorites like crispy fish sandwich, Potato Cakes (permanently!), Loaded Italian Sandwich, and Deep Fried Turkey sandwiches, Arby’s made it clear – we have the meats.
Beyond the menu, Arby’s also delighted fans with merch – including the long-awaited return of Arby’s tabletop gaming dice, this time in a metal seven-piece dice set. The coveted “Hot Girls Eat Arby’s” crop top (and holiday sweater) repeatedly sold out after WNBA Indiana Fever guard Sophie Conningham went viral in hers. Meanwhile, the Jamocha Shake jammed out on stage and lapped the racetrack at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 qualifier in Daytona Beach.
Baskin-Robbins celebrated its 80th birthday, and the launch of the new Baskin-Robbins Rewards™ program. The brand expanded its flavor library to include new flavors, like the Dubai Chocolate Collection and the exclusive Sweet on Sydney menu, while offering designed-for-convenience menu innovations like Cake in a Box and bold new flavors for Baskin-Robbins’ cool coffee beverage, the Cappy.
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) brought the value all year long, serving up deals like the Pick 6 for $19.99, Ultimate Sampler, $9.99 Bottomless Appetizers, and BOGOs – not to mention the legendary Free Wings for America Offer. In Chicago, Illinois, the brand celebrated its 200th standalone BWW GO location, offering guests a convenient new way to enjoy BWW’s fan-favorite wings and burgers.
Across the U.S., BWW restaurant teams competed in the fourth annual Blazin’ Games Presented by Pepsi training competition. In 2025, nearly 1,200 sports bar teams participated, going head-to-head in four different rounds over a nine-month period that tested their training, knowledge, and execution. In the end, this year’s Blazin’ Games Champion was the Dearborn Greggies sports bar team from Dearborn, Michigan.
From the Big Game to Wicked: For Good and the return of Spidey D, to a town that renamed itself Dunkin’, 2025 marked 75 years of America running on Dunkin’ in nearly every way imaginable.
To ensure guests could fuel up for their day their way, the brand debuted the Mix Your Own Refresher option in the app and served up new flavors all year long, like Sabrina’s Strawberry Daydream Refresher, Candy Bar Signature Latte, Cookie Butter Cloud Latte. Dunkin’ also brought satisfying value to guests with the $6 meal deal.
In October, Dunkin’ celebrated its 10,000th U.S. location just outside Chicago in Darien, Illinois. Outside the U.S., Dunkin’ became more accessible in 2025 with its first locations in France, ending the year operating in 40 global markets.
The brand also hosted its fourth annual International Barista Competition featuring Dunkin’ baristas across 35 different markets as they competed for the title of International Barista Champion. From show-stopping culinary dioramas to free-poured latte art, the competition evaluates skill in teamwork, engagement, and training.
Jimmy John’s got toasted in March, igniting ovens across our restaurants as we launched Toasted Sandwiches – and immediately followed it up with the Toasted Hot Combo (T.H.C.) box “to satisfy all 4/20 munchies.” In September, the Toasted menu got even bigger with two new pizza-inspired Toasted Sandwiches: the Toasted Sicilian Pizza Sandwich and the Toasted Three Cheese Pizza Sandwich.
Beyond Toasted, Jimmy John’s went big on National Pickle Day, tripling down on pickles and offering guests a chance to win free pickles for an entire year through the newly relaunched JJ’s Rewards Program. Plus, Kickin’ Ranch returned, introducing new wraps and chips in an all-time favorite flavor.
Jimmy John’s is now open in four global markets after announcing its international debut in 2024, including its expansion into the Middle East with openings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
For SONIC, 2025 was all about craveability with the SONIC Smasher. In the spring, the first-ever Smasher Week helped one million guests redeem a Double SONIC Smasher through the app for just $1, kicking off a year of Smasher BOGOs and Smashional campaigns.
You can’t talk about SONIC without talking about craveable, custom drinks. 2025 gave guests favorite seasonal sips like the Unicorn Dreams Slush and Salted Caramel Toffee Iced Coffee, paired with delicious eats like the SONIC x Grillo’s Pickles Big Dill Meal and Cheesy Garlic Pepperoni Bites. And to ensure everyone could satisfy their cravings, SONIC brought the value with Snacky Hour, a freebie Countdown to Halloween, multiple .99-cent Corn Dog days, and an updated Fun.99 Menu.
Now in its 31st year, the DR PEPPER SONIC GAMES training competition saw the SONIC Drive-In team from Krum, Texas take home the gold for the second year in a row. Known among carhops as more than a competition, the DRP PEPPER SONIC GAMES judge U.S. SONIC teams on efficiency, service, and hospitality through a series of challenges that brings the best of the best together to compete until a final champion team can be crowned.
Giving Back
Across Inspire’s brand foundations, we’re proud to recognize Good Citizens creating meaningful change in our communities — from franchisee Brumit Restaurant Group (BRG) who partnered with the Arby’s Foundation to rebuild Asheville’s Elderflower Care Community Center, to our Inspired Vets business resource group that raced to raise money for a nonprofit dedicated to uniting separated and deployed service member families through story time. These individuals are the volunteers who make our annual Good Citizens Month so impactful, which included hundreds of service projects fueled by our team member volunteers in 2025, directly impacting 115 local nonprofits around the world.
In 2025, Inspire’s SPARK hosted its first year-long Nonprofit Accelerator Cohort, providing funding, expert-led training, and mentorship to 25 nonprofits across the country with the goal to expand their impact with best-in-class practices. The Cohort is supported by our award-winning Inspire Foundation, which exists to ignite and nourish change for good.
Supporting Our People
We believe the restaurant industry is the best place to start and grow a career, and many of our team members have done just that at Inspire. Just take a look at Nelly’s 20-year career with BWW, Jake’s journey from Jimmy John’s delivery driver to franchisee, and Kent’s jump from Arby’s to SONIC.
In 2025, we welcomed nearly 70 summer interns across our U.S. support centers to gain hands-on career experience through behind-the-scenes tours, business case studies, leadership panels, culinary experiences, and more. Intern-to-full time team members Luke and Tyler shared their experiences building early careers at Inspire.
“As we near 2026 and Inspire’s eighth year, I find myself reflecting on all we have achieved in 2025. I’m deeply grateful for the demonstrated agility, creativity, and focus of our team members and franchisees as they deliver great guest experiences. I can’t wait to see how we continue to seize opportunities and lead even more boldly in the new year,” says Inspire Co-Founder and CEO Paul Brown.
