The talk was all tech at the Restaurants of the Future panel at the virtual Food On Demand Conference. But Editor Tom Kaiser ended with a “sentimental” question for the panelists. Does all the technology take the human element out of the dining experience? “Am I getting a little too emotional to be worrying about that sort of thing?” he asked about an experience where you’re picked up by your driverless Uber and whisked to the restaurant where there’s no line, and they already know what you want to eat […]
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Uber Eats is rolling out a new way for restaurants in the U.S. to promote themselves through its new Sponsored Listings feature that marks the company’s first advertising format for restaurants on the platform. This new marketing push also includes promotions as well as new loyalty programs that have already attracted more than 36,000 restaurants. Along with the sponsorship news, Uber Eats also announced $25 million in marketing credits to qualified U.S. restaurants. Restaurants can set up Sponsored Listings in their Uber Eats dashboards, which allows them to set an […]
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We recently posted the story about Franklin Junction, which is bringing virtual brands into Ruby Tuesday kitchens that have excess capacity to power off-premises orders. As NRD Capital spins up the “host kitchen” concept, it has partnered with Qu to aggregate digital orders from third-party delivery companies. Franklin Junction and Qu are leveraging their respective restaurant and technology expertise in launching what it calls a first-of-its-kind marketplace “driven by fast, efficient ordering and omni-channel commerce capabilities.” The new partnership gives restaurants the ability to quickly and easily manage orders through […]
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Getting your boardgame or iPhone case via Amazon drone is one step closer to reality. The FAA announced that Amazon was awarded the highest tier of certification for aerial drone operations, known as Part 135. The certification means Amazon now has no limits on the size or scope of operations. That’s a big deal, and Amazon follows only UPS (the first recipient) and Google’s Wing as certified companies under the ridged certification that examines safety and drone operations. “This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates […]
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Taco Bell unveiled its new Go Mobile store prototype, which is a lean off-premises machine designed to be heavy on drive-thru and digital orders. The new model contains a secondary drive-thru lane for digital-order pickup and dedicated spots for curbside pickup or carryout orders. Mike Grams, global COO at Taco Bell, said a lot of this has been in the works for years, but COVID-19 prompted a shotgun marriage of all the technologies and low-friction ideas. “The roadmap was established as customers converted to digital,” said Grams. “As digital opened […]
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Just Salad, the green-minded greens concept based in New York, is embracing residential delivery with a new model that makes self-delivery more efficient for staff and exceptionally convenient for customers. The company is partnering with residential building managers to install building-specific, digital-delivery-only outlets dubbed “The Hub.” Founder and CEO Nick Kenner said things are getting notably better in New York, where COVID-19 rates have remained low and people are happy to make salad runs. The key business centers that had lines out the door, however, remain pretty quiet. “We’re all […]
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It doesn’t take many contactless meal deliveries to realize that a paper bag left on your driveway, front stoop or your building’s front desk isn’t exactly the pinnacle of technology or food safety. Looking to provide a safer, more secure experience and better food quality with its insulated meal pods, Minnow has plans to install better infrastructure for off-premises meals—at restaurants, as well as the final destination whether that’s a house, high-rise residential building or office. Founded in Seattle three years before the pandemic upended the restaurant industry and rocketed […]
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Because everything in the restaurant universe seems like a roll of the dice these days, SeeLevel HX’s title for its FODC presentation on its latest survey, “Are you gambling on your customers?”, seems apropos. Vice President of Operations and Partner Donna Goodwin gave an overview of the survey results along with moderator Nicholas Upton, news editor of Food On Demand, and Kal Kuchimanchi, head of operations for U.S. and Canada Uber Eats, one of the delivery services surveyed, put the information in perspective. Atlanta-based SeeLevel provides companies with custom marketing […]
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Chipotle “just blew by a billion in digital sales,” noted Food On Demand News Editor Nick Upton. And so began his conversation with Nicole West, Chipotle’s VP of digital strategy and product management, who’s been with the brand for 14 years and helped form its ecommerce business unit in 2015. West was among the speakers August 11 during the third-annual Food On Demand Conference, presented for the first time this year in an all-virtual format. Upton was referring to the 90 percent increase in digital sales from fiscal 2018 to […]
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In a conversation on day two of the Food On Demand Conference, executives from Panera Bread, Aramark, Foodservice Results and IFBTA discussed properly utilizing customer data, marketing and how to prepare for the future of the foodservice industry. For Chris Incorvati, director of operations and support at Panera, making the experience for customers accessible and not confusing was the No. 1 priority during the pandemic. When first introducing its curbside pickup option, Panera heard some constructive criticism from consumers. “We did do some things that were pretty confusing within the […]
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