Flybuy, a location technology that predicts customer arrival times, has partnered with Apex Ordering Pickup Solutions to create delivery and takeout lockers with real-time data.
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Amid ongoing challenges in foodservice supply chains, Galley Solutions raised $14.2 million through a Series A.
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Wow Bao, the mostly virtual steamed bun chain, launched the first virtual restaurant rewards program. The program, dubbed Bao Bucks, awards customers with in-program cash to spend on food. The points accumulate only with direct orders, much like other brand loyalty programs, but it works across the more than 600 virtual locations across the U.S. and Canada (and soon in the U.K. and Mexico). Wow Bao president and CEO Geoff Alexander said he’s excited to be the first virtual restaurant brand to do so, and leaned on a longstanding relationship […]
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Ask two independent operators how to approach third-party delivery and digital off-premises operations and you’re bound to get five answers. That rang true during a Food On Demand Conference panel titled Case Studies from Independent Operators. Moderated by Hanson Li, the renowned San Francisco restaurant owner and founder of San Francisco-based Salt Partners who’s working a lot on Chinese concept Lazy Susan these days, the panel was packed with novel insights from four savvy and very different independent operators. Joining Li were the co-founder of Zingerman’s, Paul Saginaw; CEO of […]
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Grocery delivery giant Instacart has filed with a confidential notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the first legal step toward an initial public offering. The statement from the company was terse: Instacart today announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The registration statement is expected to become effective after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions. At this stage, there’s not a lot of information, and without a public S-1 document (the […]
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Building the Automated Kitchen was a fascinating panel at the Food On Demand Conference, and not just because Flippy, Sippy and other neato robots are taking over unpleasant tasks.
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“If tech is not going to give you at least three times back, don’t do it. Just hard stop, don’t do it,” advised Square’s Bryan Solar, right, on a Food On Demand Conference panel.
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For the first time, this year’s Food On Demand Conference included a panel of high-profile restaurant tech investors who opened their playbooks.
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The third-party networks continue to evolve, expanding into new verticals as growth continues. Two third-party leaders talked with Editor Tom Kaiser during the 2022 Food On Demand Conference, touching on some of the big trends in a panel discussion titled Diversifying the Major Delivery Platforms. Yadavan Mahendraraj, head of merchant operations and strategy at Uber Eats, and Kyle Goings, director of merchant growth and new verticals at Grubhub, shared some key insights, starting with the push into grocery. While Mahendraraj said picking a favorite category is like choosing a favorite […]
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Cardfree, the digital services and digital ordering provider, announced a new tool to digitize multiple parts of the hotel experience. Dubbed Cardfree Concierge, the “all-in-one platform” brings all manner of ordering, payments and loyalty functionality to hotels. It also leans on functionality like geofencing to help hotel staff efficiently find digital-ordering guests. Finally, it allows guests to order in-room dining without a separate app or utilizing third-party options directly. CEO John Squire said as hotels bounce back with potentially overwhelming demand, once high-touch services are getting high-tech solutions. “Historically, hotels […]
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