Here in Seattle the Spoon team is furiously packing, preparing to fly off to Tokyo next week for the third year of SKS Japan. It’s going to be a great time filled with panels on the changing meal journey and noodles galore.
But before we go, let’s catch up on a few of this week’s food tech news bits, shall we? We’ve got stories about Beyond Meat’s latest fast-food partner, robotic baristas, a new acquisition by Deliveroo and more. Enjoy!
Hardee’s to test Beyond Meat products
Fast food chain Hardee’s will follow in the footsteps of its sister chain Carl’s Jr. and begin serving Beyond Meat products this fall (h/t Bloomberg). Starting on October 28, Hardee’s will begin testing a Beyond Thickburger and Beyond Sausage on a biscuit in select (undisclosed) locations. In January, Hardee’s sister chain Carl’s Jr. was the first major fast-food chain to put Beyond Meat products on its menus with the launch of the Beyond Famous Star burger.
Deliveroo acquires Scottish UX startup Cultivate
This week London-based food delivery startup Deliveroo acquired Scottish startup Cultivate, a design company focused on UX and software development (h/t Techcrunch). The acquisition occurs as Deliveroo is in the process of creating its fintech hub in Edinborough, where Cultivate is headquartered. This news comes just a few months after Amazon announced plans to invest in Deliveroo (though the deal is now being held up by the UK government), and a few weeks after the food delivery company launched a new platform to supply restaurants with discount ingredients.
Briggo’s robotic Coffee Haus lands at SFO
Travelers going through the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) can now grab a latté made by a robot. This week Austin-based Briggo Coffee installed an automated Coffee Haus in SFO’s Terminal 3. The robot will serve coffee from local Bay Area roasters and feature a touchscreen with which customers can customize their beverage. Briggo already operates two Coffee Hauses in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Food delivery company Menu Group acquires Eda.ua
This week food delivery startup Menu Group, which operates in Armenia, Georgia, and Belarus, acquired Ukranian competitor Eda.ua. Menu group will begin integrating Eda.ua into their logistics system immediately and start delivering food in 5 Ukranian cities, with plans to expand. Founded in 2012, Menu Group has raised $6 million to date.
Did we miss any cool news this week? Tweet it out to us @TheSpoonTech!