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Teriyaki Madness Tests Mobile Food Option

By Nicholas Upton | August 9, 2022

One Teriyaki Madness operator is pushing her off-premises proclivity outside the restaurant in a food truck test. The test is part marketing, part operations and potentially a new revenue driver—but that depends on the event. For Teriyaki Madness CMO Jodi Boyce, it’s a great way to get out into the community and reach new people. To her, the truck is a way to help people who might not be near a restaurant or who don’t know the brand to try it for the first time. “We know from our research […]

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Ghost Financial CEO Predicts We’ll Order Delivery for Every Meal

By Tom Kaiser | August 4, 2022

Ghost Financial’s CEO predicts it will soon be more economical for the majority of Americans to order delivery for every meal of the day.

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Instacart Enables Online Catering, Delivery for Grocers

By Tom Kaiser | August 4, 2022

Grocery stores can now offer online catering ordering and delivery through Instacart using FoodStorm’s OMS.

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C3, TGI Fridays Expand Virtual Restaurant Partnership

By Tom Kaiser | August 4, 2022

C3 is doubling down on its partnership to place its virtual brands inside select TGI Fridays kitchens.

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Boba Guys to Develop Boba Bot with Bobacino

By Nicholas Upton | August 4, 2022

Your next boba tea could come from an adorable pink robot. San Francisco-based Boba Guys inked a deal with specialty robotics developer Bobacino. Under the partnership, three-unit Boba Guys will act as strategic advisors to Bobacino as it continues to develop its robotic boba “pod.” The company unveiled the bot earlier this year at the World Tea Expo to big crowds lining up to watch the robotic arm make boba. Boba Guys co-founder Bin Chen said he’s eager to explore the model further. “Boba Guys believes that progress and innovation […]

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White Castle Embraces Automation at 101 Years Old

By Nicholas Upton | August 4, 2022

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 […]

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Yum Evolves Off-Premises as ‘Challenges’ Persist

By Nicholas Upton | August 4, 2022

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 […]

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Ottonomy unveils ‘Crab Mode,’ Raises $3.3M

By Nicholas Upton | August 4, 2022

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 […]

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Uber “Betting in a Huge Way on Grocery” with Big Refresh

By Tom Kaiser | July 28, 2022

Uber has made big changes to its grocery ordering experience for merchants, customers and couriers with a big app update.

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High-Flying Lunchbox Lays Off a Third of its Staff

By Tom Kaiser | July 28, 2022

Lunchbox, one of the most prominent and outspoken tech companies in the delivery space, announced a significant round of layoffs.

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