Around The Web

March 28, 2020

Food Tech News: Craigslist for Local Beer, Contactless Food Delivery and Groceries

The world keeps on spinning, the food tech news keeps on coming. Despite the fact that everything is turned upside down by COVID-19 we’ll keep bringing you weekly updates on the food tech news front — and now you’ve got plenty of time to catch up on it. 😉

This week we’ve got stories about how to track down local beer when taprooms close, Sysco donating meals, and contactless food delivery.

Untapped launches brewery resource app

Want to track down your favorite local beer, even though its taproom is closed? Untappd, a beer rating app, just launched an in-app feature called Gregslist which lists the ways to support local restaurants and breweries in the U.S. (via Food&Wine). Users can search by venue name or look to see what’s available nearby. Each listing notes if the brewery is open, taking pickup, delivery, or curbside orders, or accepting gift cards. All data listed in Greglist is crowdsourced from Untappd users with edits by the Untappd team.

Kroger converts one store to “pickup-only”

This week Kroger converted one of its grocery stores in the Cincinnati area to “pickup only” service. The store is taking orders from 8am to 8pm. According to GroceryDive, Kroger is testing this new format to meet skyrocketing consumer demand for alternative shopping methods, specifically those that reduce contact between people. Thus far this is the first and only store to pilot pickup-only service, but the grocery chain may roll the format out to more locations if successful.

Delivery Hero starts contact-less food delivery

Delivery Hero, a food delivery service based in Berlin, is now doing cashless, contact-less delivery in areas that it defines as “high risk” for COVID-19. The company is also requesting that restaurants sanitize their to-go packaging. This move could soon spread to Delivery Hero’s other brands which operate in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

March 21, 2020

Food Tech News: Upcycled Salmon Skin Snacks, Instacart Downplays Ratings

When the world is shifting what seems like second-by-second, it can be hard to focus on anything besides COVID19. Here at the Spoon we’re working extra hard to bring you useful pieces on how the coronavirus is affecting the entire meal journey, and give you resources for how to thrive in a difficult time.

But the food tech world is still spinning, and there is still news to report! Here are a few stories that caught our eye this week, including new upcycled salmon skin chips, boozy hand sanitizer, plant-based pork instant noodles and Instacart updates. Be well and stay safe.

HARMLESS HARVEST founders launch upcycled salmon skin snack
The founders of HARMLESS HARVEST, an ethically-sourced coconut water company, just launched a new product focused on sustainable salmon. Called GOODFISH, it’s a crispy salmon skin snack which has the texture of a chicharron. The snacks are made of traceable wild Alaska sockeye salmon skins which typically go to waste and are meant to be a healthier alternative to chips. GOODFISH will retail for the SRP of $2.99 SRP for a 0.5oz bag and are currently available online.

Liquor companies to make hand sanitizer for donation
If you’ve gone grocery shopping lately you know that hand sanitizer is a rare find at the moment. To keep up with demand, liquor brand Pernod Ricard USA, which makes Absolut Vodka, Kahlua, and other brands, has announced that it will produce hand sanitizer at all of its manufacturing sites and donate them to fight the coronavirus outbreak (via The Hill). Brewers and distillers across Europe are also offering their help to make hand sanitizer using their alcohol.

Instacart shopper ratings won’t affect access to grocery service
More and more folks are relying on online grocery delivery and pickup right now, and that’s causing a frenzy of stressed out customers. Instacart announced this week that their shopper ratings — that is, the rating that Instacart customers give to people who do their shopping for them — will not affect their access to delivery jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic (h/t Techcrunch). Instacart will also let shoppers pay with Google Pay or Apple Pay, so they don’t have to touch screens while shopping.

Green Monday debuts OmniPork Instant Meal Cup in Taiwan
This week Green Monday, the plant-based meat company based out of Hong Kong, announced that it would be selling its new OmniPork Instant Meal Cup across Taiwan. Made with OmniPork’s signature plant-based pork, the instant noodle cups will be cobranded with the FamilyMart convenience store chain and sold at 3,600 stores.

March 20, 2020

Week in Restaurants: Now What?

Dining rooms are empty. Restaurants must go off-premises or go out of business. Some will go out of business regardless. And for every off-premise order fulfilled, quarantined customers get their food — but drivers, cooks, and others still working are at risk of exposure to COVID-19.

The restaurant industry is now undergoing the most disruptive crisis it has ever seen; one that has already permanently changed the business. At The Spoon, we’re as confused and frustrated as anyone else. But despite having a lot of questions and few answers right now, we’re continuing to provide coverage of the ongoing fallout, talking to founders, servers, companies, and the restaurants themselves in an attempt to make sense of everything. With that in mind, here are a few more pieces of news from the week.

Stay safe. Stay home. Tip your drivers.

National Restaurant Association Asks for Restaurant Aid

Earlier this week, the National Restaurant Association sent a proposal to the Trump Administration asking for aid for restaurants. The proposal, which The Spoon obtained a copy of, asks for direct financial relief for restaurants in the form of loans, insurance, and new tax measures. The Association noted it anticipates restaurant sales to decline $225 billion over the next three months.

Still No Delivery From In-N-Out

SoCal QSR legend In-N-Out announced this week it is closing its dining rooms. But unlike other larger restaurant brands, In-N-Out does not offer delivery — nor does it intend to now. As Nation’s Restaurant News points out, the chain has famously stayed away from third-party platforms (and even sued one), and for now will only offer drive-thru and takeout orders. Whether or not this lack of delivery becomes a hindrance for In-N-Out as California tightens its restrictions remains to be seen.

Domino’s is Hiring 10,000 Workers

Domino’s said it will need roughly 10,000 new workers, full and part time, to meet the demand for orders now that dining rooms are shuttered and customers are staying home. In a press release, the chain noted open positions include “delivery experts, pizza makers, customer service representatives, managers and assistant managers.” In a separate statement, Domino’s outlined the things it is doing to ensure cleanliness and sanitation, including contactless delivery, additional training for employees, and improved sanitation practices. The company is expanding its paid sick leave policy for employees during this time.

Sevenrooms Launches Direct Delivery Feature

Guest management platform Sevenrooms launched a new feature this week called Direct Delivery that gives restaurants more ownership over their customer data on delivery and takeout orders in the hopes of being able to offer them more relevant marketing. According to an email from Sevenrooms, the feature can be directly integrated into a restaurant POS system, too. For the next 90 days, existing and prospective Sevenrooms customers can add the feature on at no extra cost.

March 18, 2020

Own a Restaurant? Here Are Some Resources for Surviving COVID-19

It’s way too soon to know exactly how badly restaurants will be impacted by the mandatory dining room shutdowns happening due to the spread of coronavirus. In a letter to the government obtained by The Spoon, The National Restaurant Association said it anticipates a sales decline of $225 billion over the next three months and the loss of between 5–7 million jobs. Since news of both COVID-19 and its effects on daily life and business change overnight now, there’s no telling if that number will go up in the near future.

To help restaurant owners, managers, workers, and other industry folks affected by this unprecedented situation, we’ve put together a list of useful websites, funds, fact sheets, and more. I’ll be adding to this list daily, so if you know of an organization or movement or own a tech company pushing out solutions to help restaurants, drop me a line at tips@thespoon.tech.

The National Restaurant Association has put together a COVID-19 fact sheet (PDF) that includes information specific to the restaurant industry, such as the difference between cleaning and sanitizing and what to do if an employee gets sick.

Allset, a reservations and order-ahead app, now offers a contactless pickup option at participating restaurants. For all existing restaurant partners that provide the contactless pickup option at their stores, the company is waiving commission fees. Allset is also offering a daily $4 discount to customers for all pickup orders placed via its platform.

Restaurant tech company Chowly is offering a “no cost” starter package to businesses needing to quickly pivot to delivery models as more cities and states shut down dining rooms. Chowly’s software funnels orders coming from multiple different channels directly into a restaurant’s main POS system, which saves restaurants from having to manually input that information. Right now, Chowly says restaurants can get set up in as little as two business days.

DailyPay, an app that lets restaurant workers access their earnings immediately, has waived all access fees so that individuals using the service can get their earned income immediately. According to a press release from DailyPay, 43% of employees using DailyPay are accessing their pay early for COVID-19-related expenses. Restaurants not yet working with DailyPay can now do so at zero cost right now.

A group of restaurant industry professionals has set up an initiative to get immediate funds to restaurants through a campaign called “Dining Bonds.” It works like a savings bond: guests purchase a bond at today’s value rate and can redeem it for full face value at a later date. Customers can connect and purchase bonds from participating restaurants here.

DoorDash/Caviar is waiving commission fees for 30 days for new independent restaurants. Existing restaurant customers will pay zero commission fees on pickup orders for 30 days. The service has also set up a fund to assist impacted drivers and couriers.

Epicuri is waiving set up fees and offering a 60-day free trial with no commitment of its restaurant POS and guest management software. If interested, email onboarding@epicuri.co.uk.

Foodetective, a restaurant delivery platform serving Switzerland, is offering a commission-free delivery and takeaway platform for restaurants in the U.S. Restaurants will pay a monthly subscription fee but no commissions on individual orders.

The Foodservice Training Portal, which provides online learning tools for foodservice establishments, just released a new course which outlines how to respond to and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Grubhub/Seamless has suspended commission fees for independent restaurants and set up a fund to assist drivers impacted by COVID-19.

Modern Restaurant Management has compiled a massive list of companies, nonprofits, tech startups, and more all offering tools and tips for restaurants during this time. The list includes everything from free webinars to best practice lists to information about new products that can help restaurants shift to off-premises strategies quickly. Check the full roundup here.

OneDine is now providing its Touchless System for ordering and payment free to all restaurants. It will waive setup and transaction fees and provide free Tap & Order and Tap & Pay sensors to all restaurants staying open.

OpenTable has launched a Restaurant Resource Center with information to help restaurant owners adapt operations to weather forced closures during the coronavirus. It will also waive subscription fees to their booking service if the restaurant is closed, as well as gift card listing fees.

Ordermark, a software-hardware platform that streamlines the process of accepting, managing, and fulfilling delivery orders, is waiving all setup fees right now, according to an email sent to The Spoon.

Postmates will waive commission fees for new San Francisco restaurants signing up with the platform. The service has also set up a fund for impacted workers.

Restaurant order management platform Revention is offering an Online Ordering and Delivery Starter Bundle for a reduced price. It includes a POS terminal, optional DoorDash on-demand delivery service, and remote installation.

Restaurant Playbooks will offer sales and hospitality training programs free to restaurant operators who are using their mandatory closures to develop their team.

The Restaurant Workers Community Foundation now has a COVID-19 Crisis Relief Fund where individuals and businesses can donate to help provide financial relief to restaurants and workers.

Seated, a restaurant reservation and rewards platform, has created a help hotline to provide free financial, business, and legal advice to restaurant owners.

Toast has set up a relief fund called Rally for Restaurants. Users can search an online directory for their favorite restaurants and donate to them by purchasing gift cards.

Uber Eats has waived delivery fees for independent restaurants and offers two weeks of pay to drivers diagnosed with or quarantined because of COVID-19.

USBG National Charity Foundation is raising funds for the COVID-19 Relief Campaign in order to finance the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program.

The U.S. Small Business Association is offering low-interest disaster recovery loans to small businesses that have been severely impacted by COVID-19.

Online food ordering platform Zuppler is offering free setup and reduced pricing for restaurants and caterers who want to add online or Google ordering to their websites.

March 14, 2020

Food Tech News: Sustainable Agriculture Leaps in Earth and in Outer Space

In this week’s news cycle which seems to be filled with ever-more-scary headlines, it can be hard to look anywhere but the eye of the storm. However, if you want a break from COVID-19 news, we’ve rounded up some food tech stories to peruse while you’re social distancing.

This week we’ve got stories on safer pesticide coatings, climate-friendly snacks and a very personal way astronauts can sustain space agriculture.

Astronauts can recycle urine to increase crop production

Space travelers preparing for multi-year journeys already know they’ll have to recycle their urine to make drinking water (yum). But this week IFT reported that that urine could have another use to help sustain astronauts over long missions. Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have successfully completed an experiment showing that struvite, a component found in human urine, could be used as a fertilizer to accelerate crop growth on potential farms on Mars.

Crop Enhancement raises $8M for sustainable pesticide spray

Crop Enhancement, a startup making a sustainable alternative to pesticides, raised a $8 million Series B this week. The round was led by Spruce Capital and Xeraya Capital, with participation from Davinia Investments, Alexandria Ventures, and existing investors. According to AgFunder News, Crop Enhancement is using a type of material that hasn’t been used in agriculture thus far, and is able to protect a plant for six to eight weeks. The startup will use the new funding to start trials testing the effect of its spray on a new range of crops including grapes, broccoli, and tomatoes.

Planet FWD raises $2.7M for regenerative snacks

Planet FWD, a new startup founded by the co-founder of pizza tech company Zume Pizza, just announced that it had closed a $2.7 million seed round (h/t Techcrunch). Planet FWD makes sustainable snacks out of regenerative ingredients in order to combat climate change, and its first product will be a cracker made from ingredients that regenerate soil health. The round was led by BBG Ventures with participation from Cleo Capital, Cowboy Ventures, Kapor Capital and others. It’s unclear where the product will be available or its pricing.

People Moves

We’re trying out a new periodic feature for food tech news called People Moves, where we track the career moves of those in the food tech world. If you know of an executive move, let us know at tips@thespoon.tech.

Gunders to Lead ReFed. Dana Gunders, long known for her efforts to raise awareness about food waste, has been named the Executive Director of ReFED, one of the world’s leading organization’s focused on reducing food waste.

Ken Zhang Joins HotSpot Cooktop. Ken Zhang, former director of platform for smart cooking platform SideChef, has went on to become Chief Product Officer at HotSpot CookTop.

Doug Evans Becomes Author. Ex-CEO of founder of Juicero has a new gig: author. He just published a books on Sprouts and says he is now a full-time author.

March 13, 2020

Restaurants and Partners Innovating to Survive During the Coronavirus

The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent social distancing are affecting many folks, but one of the groups that’s been the hardest-hit is the hospitality industry, especially restaurants. So we at The Spoon are putting together a list of companies in or adjacent to the food and restaurant space who are offering ways to help foodservice establishments struggling during the coronavirus.

Please feel free to leave any additional companies in the comments section or email us at tips@thespoon.tech. We’ll be updating the list. Stay safe and healthy out there!

SOFTWARE HELPING RESTAURANTS

Switzerland: Foodetective

Plenty of restaurants are trying to focus more on takeaway and delivery, but third-party delivery services can charge high fees that cut into restaurants’ already razor-thin margins. Foodetective is trying to let restaurants keep more profits in their pockets by offering free takeaway and delivery platform for restaurants — in Switzerland. Swiss restaurants can go onto Foodetective’s website and set up a profile to sell their food online without having to pay commissions to delivery services.

Maybe (more) third-party delivery services here in the U.S. will take note.

Nationwide: Bbot

Steve Simoni, founder of smart ordering software provider Bbot, told The Spoon that they would be providing discounted setups of their software to help restaurants better support delivery and pickup. Simoni said that they won’t charge the monthly fee for their software until June 1.

“We’re trying to make it cost effective and easy for them,” he wrote to us. However, participating restaurants will need to figure out their own delivery service to partner with to actually get the food to diners’ doorsteps.

Nationwide: Lavu

Restaurant PoS system provider Lavu Inc. just released its Corona Virus Relief plan. According to a Linkedin post by Lavu’s CEO Saleem S. Khatri, the company is no longer charging software payments to restaurants that are shut down in response to the outbreak.

Lavu is also waiving fees for Menudrive, its online ordering platform, so restaurants focusing more on delivery don’t have to pay as much to third-party services.

Finally, Khatri wrote that Lavu has partnered with an undisclosed capital partner to help restaurants in dire straits gain access to short-term capital.

RESTAURANTS REINVENTING THEMSELVES

Seattle: Addo

Chef Eric Rivera is known for his wacky, creative theme nights at his Seattle restaurant addo. But in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, he has started diversifying addo’s offerings to cater to diners who might be cautious to dine out in a group setting.

Seattlites can order to-go meals from addo @ home, which includes three pre-prepped meals plus wine, for pick-up or delivery. Rivera has also created addo pantry, a source of dry goods, hot sauces, and more made in-house which people can pre-order for pickup or delivery (delivery comes with a flat fee). Pick-ups and deliveries for addo pantry start on 3/22.

If you’re looking for a way to pay it forward in these uncertain times, Rivera just launched addo for the people. Through the program you can purchase $9 bowls of take-and-heat food either for yourself or as donations to local charities. The bowls are currently available for pickup at addo and Rivera and his team are in the midst of partnering with charities to coordinate food drop off.

Seattle: Canlis

James Beard Award-winning fine dining restaurant Canlis is completely reinventing itself in the wake of the coronavirus. The restaurant will shut down its dining room starting on Monday, March 16 and will pivot the following day to offer three new dining options: takeout-only breakfast option The Bagel Shed, pickup lunch offering Drive On Thru, and a meal delivery service called Family Meal.

All new offerings will be based on the Canlis restaurant site in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, and the delivery range for Family Meal will be roughly 7 miles away from the restaurant. “Fine dining is not what Seattle needs right now,” reads Canlis’ new website. “Instead, this is one idea for safely creating jobs for our employees while serving as much of our city as we can. We’ve got this, Seattle.”

CREATOR GOES TAKE OUT

San Francisco’s hamburger restaurant, which already has robots that make its food, has gone to take out and delivery only. The restaurant has also taken on what seems like sci-fi level measures, as the company told us via email:

Our engineers have worked around the clock to create a transfer chamber that protects the inside of the restaurant from outside air yet still allows us to transport completed meals, in their hermetically sealed bags, out to customers. The chamber uses a positive pressure system combined with a self-sanitizing conveyor.

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Do you know of other restaurants/online platforms/services that are helping foodservice establishments survive during the coronavirus outbreak? Comment below or send us a tip at tips@thespoontech!

March 13, 2020

Week in Restaurants: How Restaurants Are Responding to Coronavirus

Restaurants large and small face a major sales slump due to declining foot traffic and mandates from city governments to reduce capacity in the dining room. Meanwhile, larger chains are under pressure to provide more paid sick leave to their workers, and based on the number of businesses now focusing on to-go and delivery formats, we’re about to see a massive surge in delivery orders. Here’s what the week in restaurants and restaurant tech looked like in the wake of a pandemic.

Starbucks Considers Switching to Delivery, Takeout Format

Starbucks already temporarily suspended its reusable cup program last week. Then yesterday, in a letter to customers, company CEO Kevin Johnson wrote that the chain is considering an off-premises-only model for some stores for the time being. That would mean customers could only order via the Starbucks mobile app, and all orders would have to be for pickup, delivery, or drive-thru. Johnson said closing entire stores outright would be a last resort, and that any changes made to store formats would be decided on a “community-by-community and store-by-store” basis.

NYC Restaurants Must Reduce Capacity

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that New York City bars and restaurants must reduce capacity by 50 percent starting today at 5 p.m. Gatherings for 500 people or more have been completely banned. De Blasio said small businesses affected by this change have the option of no-interest loans to consider, and those who face eviction should check the city’s website for free legal assistance.

Restaurants Add Paid Sick Leave for Workers

Darden, the parent company of Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen launched a new sick leave policy this week where employees earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The new policy applies to about 180,000 restaurant workers across Darden’s portfolio. A Darden spokesperson mentioned that this is a permanent change that has actually been in the works for some time. “We did accelerate the rollout given the current environment,” he added.

McDonald’s announced paid sick leave for up to two weeks for employees that are asked to quarantine themselves due to coronavirus. The policy applies to corporate-owned stores only. Workers are currently demanding paid sick leave for all employees across both corporate and franchise locations.

Noodles & Company is also now offering emergency pay for quarantined workers at company-owned stores. The plan is similar to McDonald’s, where hourly workers who normally do not get paid sick time will receive paid time off if they are unable to work after being diagnosed with or quarantined because of COVID019. The company is said to be working on a longer-term paid sick leave policy for employees.

Starbucks, in addition to its moves above, is also now offering catastrophe pay to workers who have been diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19, as well as anyone who “comes into close prolonged contact with someone in their store or household” who has the virus, according to a letter from company president Rossann Williams. These groups are eligible for up to 14 days of catastrophe pay. Additional pay replacement “may be made up to 26 weeks” if an employee is still unable to return to work.

March 7, 2020

Food Tech News: Self-Heating Coffee Cans and Pepsi’s Pulp 6-Pack Rings

It’s very possible that you will be staying inside this weekend, or else maybe you’ve got a trip planned to go support your local Chinatown. But first, catch up on one type of news that won’t make you want to bury yourself under a comforter and never come out: food tech news!

This week we’ve rounded up stories on self-heating coffee cans from La Colombe, PepsiCo’s newest waste-free packaging, and plant-based pork. Enjoy.

La Colombe debuts self-heating coffee cans
La Colombe is has something hot a-brewing. The Philadelphia-based coffee brand has teamed up with beverage tech startup HeatGen to create self-heating cans of java (via the Philadelpha Inquirer). Users twist the bottom of the can and wait two minutes, during which a chemical reaction heats the coffee to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. For now the self-heating coffee cans, which come in two flavors, cost $5 each and are only available at one La Colombe location in Philadelphia. La Colombe CEO Todd Carmichael told the Inquirer that the cans would soon have a larger rollout in Wegmans grocery stores.

PepsiCo trials soda rings made from molded pulp
In an effort to cut down on plastic rings (you know the ones that trap sea turtles), PepsiCo is trialing a new method of holding together its six-packs of soda cans. The new rings are made of molded wood pulp instead of plastic. According to FoodNavigator, the new packaging will be tested out over the next few weeks on 7.5-ounce mini six-packs of Pepsi and Sierra Mist. In addition to being recyclable, the pulp rings are also biodegradable and compostable.

Hormel’s Happy Little Plants rolls out plant-based ground “meat”
Happy Little Plants, the alternative protein brand by pork company Hormel Foods, recently expanded the footprint of its plant-based ground “meat.” The product, the first for Happy Little Plants, is now available at all 74 locations of the Midwestern grocery chain Fresh Thyme Farmers Market (h/t VegNews). Hormel launched Happy Little Plants back in 2019 at Hy-Vee supermarkets in six states and has plans to introduce new products in the coming months.

February 29, 2020

Food Tech News: Taco Bell Goes Plant-Based, plus GIF Peanut Butter

Greetings from New York City, where we’re recovering from the whirlwind of Customize, our first-ever food personalization summit. We’ll have videos of our sessions — including a case study with Kroger Health and a deep-dive into microbiome-based nutrition — coming your way over the next few days.

But until then, we’ve rounded up a few cool food tech bits for your perusing pleasure. This week we’ve got stories on Taco Bell’s plant-based plans, a new device to detect deadly mushroom toxins, and a GIF-based campaign from J.M. Smucker. Enjoy!

Peanut butter pronunciation: Jif vs. GIF
J.M. Smucker has teamed up with GIF search engine GIPHY to create a co-promotion around, of all things, peanut butter. According to the computer scientist who devoped it, the GIF is pronounced with a soft G, like the popular peanut butter brand. However, to assert its name independence and stir up some media publicity, this week J.M. Smucker sold 2,000 peanut butter jars with a label that reads “GIF,” with an implied hard “g” sound (h/t Wall Street Journal). To no one’s surprise, peanut butter-y gifs (jifs?) ensueD.

Taco Bell will add plant-based meat by 2020
Looks like Taco Bell will soon live mas plant-based. This week, the QSRs CEO Mark King told Nation’s Restaurant News that the fast-food chain would “definitely do something with plant-based protein and probably by the end of the year.” Which brand will grace its tacos and chalupas? TBD — King said that the company has met with both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods but hasn’t declared a partner yet.

New device can detect deadly mushroom toxins
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a test strip that can determine whether or not a wild mushroom is poisonous, according to The Counter. Within 10 minutes of exposure to the mushroom (or urine of someone who has consumed the fungi), the strip can detect if dangerous amatoxins are present. Scientists hope that this strip can help foragers (and their dogs) avoid poisoning from deadly species like so-called “death caps” and “destroying angels.”

February 28, 2020

Week in Restaurants: More Legislation for Food Delivery In Store, Unlimited Coffee From Panera

Between hanging out with the Basque Culinary Center folks earlier this week, flying over the Atlantic, and making it back to NYC just in time for The Spoon’s Customize event, I’ve had limited time to go in-depth into restaurant tech. That means this weekly roundup is as much a catch-up session for me as it is for you. And there’s a lot to catch up on this week. Read on for a few notable news bits from around the web this week.

Panera Launches Unlimited Coffee Subscription

In what’s likely a move to entice more customers to its loyalty program, Panera this week launched the MyPanera+Coffee subscription service. Membership can only available by signing up for a MyPanera loyalty/rewards program then adding the $8.99/month (plus tax) subscription service to your account. Those who do can walk into a Panera every two hours and refill their mug, regardless of its size, without incurring any additional charges beyond the monthly fee. The same goes for iced coffee and hot tea, too.

NYC Introduces Six Bills to Regulate Food Delivery

The New York City council introduced a series of bills this week that aim to regulate the third-party food delivery industry. Six bills in total would would regulate different areas of delivery. Restaurant commission fees, third-party services’ control over menu pricing, erroneous charges to restaurants, tamper-evident packaging, and special licenses for delivery services are just some of the issues the proposed legislation addresses. (Read the full breakdown here.) If one or more of these bills are signed into law in NYC, the impact could have a ripple effect across the delivery industry in the rest of the country.

Yum! Brands to Phase Out Polystyrene Packaging

The parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC is getting onboard with saving the oceans. This week, Yum announced it will stop its use of polystyrene packaging globally by 2022. Right now, the material is used mostly for side dishes on delivery/takeout orders for Yum Restaurants. Yum hasn’t yet said what it will replace polystyrene with, but that phasing it out will eliminate 100 million foam containers per year across the company’s restaurant portfolio.

February 22, 2020

Food Tech News: Synthetic “Wine,” Peach Raises Funds for Office Lunch Delivery

The Spoon team is packing their bags for New York, where we’ll be for next week’s Customize summit! If you’re interested in the effect that personalization will have on the food system — in CPG, grocery, nutrition and the home kitchen — you should really join us. Good news! Spoon readers can snag one of the last remaining tickets for 15 percent off with code SPOON15.

But first, let’s catch up on some intriguing food tech tidbits from the week. Our latest dispatch includes stories on office lunch delivery fundraises, a new AI accelerator, and synthetic wine grown in a lab. Enjoy!

Endless West debuts synthetic “wine” and “sake”
Two years ago Endless West came out with Glyph, a spirit that’s constructed on a molecular level to taste like whiskey, without the aging. This week the San Francisco-based startup unveiled two new products: molecular wine and sake. The products, which are made in a lab, don’t contain any grapes — instead, they consist only of water, ethanol, and chemical compounds which mimic the flavors and aromas of the beverages. If you’re curious, you can buy Endless West’s first wine and sake products on their website.

Danone and Microsoft team up for AI accelerator
CPG giant Danone and Microsoft announced the launch of AI Factory for Agrifood, a startup accelerator targeting early-stage companies working on sustainable food and beverage projects (via FoodNavigator). The program is part of Microsoft’s AI Factory, so it will focus on companies leveraging AI. Target projects include regenerative agriculture, food waste reduction and supply chain optimization. Applications have closed and selections will be announced on March 6.

Office lunch delivery company Peach raises $5 million
A new SEC filing reveals that Peach, the Seattle-based startup offering discounted office lunch delivery, has raised $5 million as part of a larger round (h/t Geekwire). The company, which was founded in 2014, has raised $15.75 million thus far. This news comes two years after Peach cut a third of its staff in an attempt reach profitability.

February 21, 2020

Week in Restaurants: Domino’s Might Win Its Fight Against Third-party Delivery

Greetings from the far reaches of Newark Liberty International Airport. I’m off to Madrid to check out the the Hospitality 4.0 Congress for a few days. You should be finalizing your travel plans as well — to NYC, specifically, where you can join us next week for The Spoon’s daylong Customize event. We’ll be discussing food personalization and what that trend means for your diet, your kitchen, and your restaurant orders. Don’t sleep on this one. Grab one of the few remaining tickets here.

In the meantime, here are a few more restaurant-related stories from around the web this week.

Domino’s Stance Against Third-Party Delivery Is Paying Off

Who can possibly stand up to third-party delivery’s mission to dominate the restaurant industry? Domino’s apparently.

The pizza chain is at this point as famous for its in-house delivery policy as it is for its pies, and on its Q4 2019 earnings call this week, the Ann Arbor-based company announced same-store sales growth of $3.4 percent, while its stock jumped 25 percent. In other words, its anti-third-party-delivery stance isn’t killing its business, at least not yet. On the call, Domino’s CEO Ritch Allison did note that the company is still seeing a lot of pressure from third-party services. “As we look back on the quarter, it does appear to us that while we see continued headwinds in delivery that are difficult to forecast, aggregator pressure appeared to level off on our delivery orders in Q4, while carryout traffic was outstanding during the quarter, as our strategy to grow that business continues to pay off.“

Waitr to Lay Off 2,300 Drivers

Troubled food delivery service Waitr will lay off 2,300 delivery drivers in its home state of Louisiana, according to a notice filed with the state’s labor department. This announcement comes just a couple weeks after the service announced it would reclassify drivers as contract workers and pay them per delivery rather than per hour, as the old model dictated. The layoffs are effective April 6. A Waitr spokesperson said impacted drivers will be able to keep working as contracted drivers.

The Cheesecake Factory Is Finally Taking Yelp Reservations

Ever visit a Cheesecake Factory on a Friday at 7 p.m.? You’re lucky if you wait only an hour to get a table. Until now, that is. On a call with investors this week, the company announced it has partnered with Yelp to start offering limited seating reservations, meaning a certain number of tables will be set aside for reservations throughout the week.

This isn’t the most earth-shattering news out there today, but it does point to the work restaurants are currently doing to make the front-of-house experience more efficient and hopefully increase dine-in visits from customers. “One of the biggest hurdles for our guests can be our long wait times,” he said. “So we’re hoping this additional convenience will encourage guests who are more pressed for time to dine with us,” president David Gordon said on the call.

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