Chipotle Venture Fund Invests in Six Agriculture and Restaurant Tech Startups
Chipotle Mexican Grill has expanded its venture fund, Cultivate Next, with investments in six companies focused on agriculture, supply chains, sustainability, food systems and restaurant technology. The new portfolio includes Benchmark Labs, IMIO, Clean Crop...
Smashburger Doubles Down with Streamlined Menu
Smashburger is streamlining its limited-time menu this summer, introducing a simplified selection. The fast-casual chain’s menu includes two burgers and two Häagen-Dazs hand-spun shakes, a smaller selection than previous seasonal promotions. The menu features...
AI Integrations Emerges as Summer Defining Trend for Square
Summer 2026 is shaping up to be a season defined by artificial-intelligence-centered initiatives and partnerships for Square, a California-based restaurant technology platform with more than 450,000 food and beverage business partners. Square announced a ChatGPT app...
Church’s Texas Chicken Debuts Catering Across U.S.
Church’s Texas Chicken is the latest restaurant chain to launch catering, introducing the service across its U.S. restaurants for the first time. The Atlanta-based chicken chain, which operates nearly 900 U.S. restaurants, announced the launch of Church’s...
Warehouse Robots Open Revenue Opportunities for HelloFresh, Meal Kit Industry
Just under a year since launching an initial pilot program with HelloFresh Group, Massachusetts-based Locus Robotics announced June 23 that a hardware modification developed for the meal kit and prepared-meal delivery company enabled a fivefold expansion in chilled...
Outstanding Operators
Food On Demand Outstanding Operators features restaurant brands with innovative operations that are taking creative paths to success with delivery and all things off-premises.