Fast-Casual Brands Should Be Ready to Adapt, Say Qdoba, Portillo’s Executives
This article originally appeared in Franchise Times, a sibling publication to Food On Demand. Rash decisions are often ill-advised, but restaurant brands should be ready to make quick adjustments as trends change. It’s something fast-casual brands Portillo’s and Qdoba...
Serve Robotics Acquires Autocado-Maker Vebu
Serve Robotics is getting in the avocado game, and more importantly, the Chipotle game. The autonomous delivery company has announced that it is acquiring Vebu, the maker of the Autocado, a machine that processes avocados for guacamole. Autocado is known for its...
Applebee’s and IHOP Open First Duel-Branded Location in U.S.
Applebee’s and IHOP are teaming up to open their first-ever dual-branded restaurant in the U.S., combining the two concepts under one roof. It’s set to open in Seguin, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio, in the first quarter of 2025. Dine Brands (the parent company) is...
Chef Robotics Prepares To Wheel Into Ghost Kitchens
The usual trajectory for a company is to start small before going big. Chef Robotics is doing the opposite. Starting in 2022, it placed its AI-powered robots in high-volume, high-mix environments: large industrial kitchens that handle hundreds of SKUs in producing...
Meet the Robots Serving Students at the University of Minnesota
At Food On Demand, we’ve been covering the rise of autonomous delivery robots for quite some time. So, when we heard that these robots had officially launched in Minneapolis—right in our backyard—we were eager to check them out. The University of Minnesota (U of M)...
LAUNCH Incubator Opens Doors in Cloud Kitchen Space
Cloud kitchens were all the rage after the pandemic. Then momentum slowed. Jason Calacanis never lost faith. Calacanis is the founder of LAUNCH, an early-stage investment firm. Through the LAUNCH Accelerator, LAUNCH Fund Syndicate, and LAUNCH CloudKitchens Incubator,...
Paytronix Acquired By a British Software Company
Guest engagement company Paytronix has helped process more than 40 billion consumer transactions. It is now processing its sale to The Access Group, a leading provider of business management software to mid-market organizations in Europe, the U.S. and Asia Pacific....
DoorDash Partners With Lyft On Discounts and Upgrades
Lyft has been poking around the lucrative food-delivery business for a while now. In 2020, it rolled out a program with Grubhub for Lyft Pink members. In 2021, it partnered with digital-ordering platform Olo to serve as a last-mile delivery provider for restaurant...
7-Eleven Ramps Up Fast Casual Strategy with 600 Food-Focused Stores
C-stores continue to make plays in the fast-casual space. 7-Eleven, the largest C-store chain in the U.S., plans to open 600 large-format, food-focused convenience stores in North America, by the end of 2027. Highlighted by CEO Joe DePinto in a recent investor...
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.