White Castle recently announced it would install robotics in at least 100 locations. The move comes at the brand’s ripe old age of 101, and demonstrates as many years of embracing innovation where it makes sense. Jamie Richardson, VP of marketing and public relations, has been there for 22 of those years and has been involved with much of that new technology. It’s been a constant drumbeat of updates, moving out of the tiny castles where the brand started as it has brought in an increasing amount of technology. The […]
Yum, the parent company of Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell and Habit Burger, announced its second-quarter results. Overall, sales and unit growth were both up, but there were some challenges, especially when it came to delivery. According to Yum CEO David Gibbs, Pizza Hut, “declined 3 percent, driven by flat unit growth and a 4 percent decline in same-store sales, driven in large part by continued operational challenges in our delivery business.” The big issue: staffing. He said the company is reworking how it hires drivers, speeding up that process […]
Robotic delivery bot maker Ottonomy secured $3.3 million in a second investment round and previewed its next delivery robot. CEO Ritukar Vijay said there is a major need for robotics on campuses, in parking lots and in places like airports—maybe more so than door-to-door delivery. “If you think about door-to-door delivery retail, that’s a minimal use case,” said co-founder and CEO Ritukar Vijay. “That doesn’t resonate or connect with the large corporate population where these [robots] can get inside the facility. They need to be inside the facility or store […]
Uber has made big changes to its grocery ordering experience for merchants, customers and couriers with a big app update.
Lunchbox, one of the most prominent and outspoken tech companies in the delivery space, announced a significant round of layoffs.
Waitr Holdings will soon officially be known as ASAP, and the company has a new deal with MetLife Stadium and both NFL teams that play there. Waitr inked a five-year deal to serve as the “official and exclusive mobile ordering partner of the New York Jets and New York Giants and MetLife Stadium.” CEO Carl Grimstad said the rebrand, announced earlier this year, will happen in a matter of weeks. And the partnership move will be a milestone for the company’s in-venue ordering. “Partnering with MetLife Stadium to deliver an […]
Mail-order health-food giant Daily Harvest identified the ingredient that made nearly 500 customers sick in a massive foodborne illness outbreak. In a letter to customers updating them on the outbreak, Daily Harvest CEO Rachel Drori wrote the company “identified tara flour as the cause of the issue.” She wrote the company was no longer using this ingredient, and said it was only used in the French Lentil & Leek Crumbles that were at the center of the outbreak. Drori wrote that it was the first and only time the company […]
Virtual restaurants are going through rapid evolutions as this subset of the restaurant industry matures. By focusing on operational simplicity, Catapult Concepts offers a new method of operating sub brands that the founder says is exceptionally easy and truly incremental. Founder and CEO Jake Schostak knows restaurants very well. He grew up in the restaurant business, and not just a little corner bistro but a large restaurant enterprise known as Team Schostak. It’s No. 50 on the Restaurant Finance Monitor 200 this year and operates more than 130 franchised restaurants […]
Partners Coffee just launched a new line of instant coffee for mail order and delivery, and the five-location coffee shop and roastery has some tips for doing national delivery right. Partners is a hip, Brooklyn coffee shop with five locations around the New York City area. Inside the company, however, is a sprawling ecommerce operation that plays up the hip brand, sustainable supply chain and small-batch roasting. The company has been shipping specialty coffee around the country for years and has coffee in grocery stores, as well. As more brands […]
Kitchen United raised $100M and announced plans to grow from 15 to 500 locations, partly with Circle K, a partnership that could rival its work with Kroger.
