• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Skip to navigation
Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

  • Home
  • Podcasts
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Connect
    • Custom Events
    • Slack
    • RSS
    • Send us a Tip
  • Advertise
  • Consulting
  • About
The Spoon
  • Home
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Advertise
  • About

Food Tech News: McDonalds Delivers to Picnic Blankets, NYC Cracks down on CBD

by Catherine Lamb
July 6, 2019July 8, 2019Filed under:
  • Around The Web
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Happy post-4th of July weekend, all. Hopefully you’re a little sun-dazed and spent Thursday grilling and sipping refreshing beverages. Maybe you tried Beyond burgers, or were lucky enough to sample cocktails made by a robot bartender?

Regardless, we hope you saved up for this week’s food tech news. We’ve got stories on QR-enabled picnic blankets for outdoor food delivery, CBD crackdowns and PepsiCo’s new plastic-free initiatives. Enjoy!

McDonald’s Sweden trials a QR-enabled picnic blanket
McDonald’s in Sweden is debuting a blanket with an embedded QR code, so sunbathers can have a Big Mac delivered straight to their picnic. Users scan the QR code on the blanket, then their geographic location is sent to the third-party delivery service of their choice which then brings them their order. Adweek reports that the blankets are only available through social media (they’re not for sale). 7-Eleven and Dominos are also rolling out ways for hungry people to order delivery to outdoor locations, like beaches, parks, stadiums, and more.

 

NYC to crack down on CBD in food and drink
This week New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sent out a tweet stating that it would immediately embargo all food and drink containing CBD, the non-hallucinogenic chemical in cannabis. The FDA has not approved the use of CBD in food and drink, but it held a public hearing at the end of May to start the regulatory ball rolling. Until it gets approval, however, amNewYork reports that NYC businesses selling CBD-infused edibles will start seeing crackdowns starting October 1st.

 

Deliveroo launches letterbox service
Because sometimes even getting up to answer the door is too much work, Deliveroo is now delivering food through letterboxes (h/t The Independent). Called “The Royal Meal,” the service will slot breakfast sandwiches through customers’ mail slots, so they don’t have to open the door to receive their food. As of now the service only works from one specific cafe, Katsouris, in Manchester, U.K. But as people become more used to getting exactly what they want without any human interaction, especially when they’re feeling a little worse for the wear, I wouldn’t be surprised if this sort of delivery system catches on.

Photo: Pepsico

PepsiCo makes moves to cut plastic
This week PepsiCo announced several initiatives to cut plastic waste in its water (and bubbly water) brands. LIFEWTR will now be packaged in 100% rPET (made of recycled plastic), and its LaCroix-like bubly, which comes in aluminum cans, will no longer be packaged in plastic. It will also test aluminum can versions of its AQUAFINA water, which are typically in plastic bottles. These moves are meant to help PepsiCo reach its goal of using 25 percent recycled plastic content by 2025, while also making all of its packaging recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable. The changes will all go into effect next year.

Did we miss anything? Tweet us @TheSpoonTech to let us know!


Related

What Sweden’s Quirky Food Tech Scene Could Mean for the Rest of the World

From parental leave policies to sustainability initiatives, Sweden is typically considered one of the most forward-thinking nations on earth.So it's no surprise the country consistently pops up in food tech conversations, often for unusual projects that seem quirky at first glance but can actually tell us a lot about how…

PizzaHQ’s Founders Are Building a Robot-Powered Pizza Chain of the Future

Darryl Dueltgen and Jason Udrija had a choice: Expand their successful New Jersey pizza restaurant brand called Pizza Love, or start a tech-powered pizza concept that could change the pizza industry. They decided to start a revolution. "We've put a lot of time into building a labor-reduced, tech-driven concept that…

Picnic’s Pizza-Making Robot Heading To Five College Campuses This Fall

Seattle-based Picnic Works announced today that its Pizza Station robot will be heading to college this fall as part of an expanded pilot program with college food service company Chartwells Higher Education. The pilot will include five colleges: Texas A&M, the University of Chicago, Missouri State University, Carroll University, and…

Get the Spoon in your inbox

Just enter your email and we’ll take care of the rest:

Find us on some of these other platforms:

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify

Post navigation

Previous Post The Hatchery is an All-in-One Incubator for Chicago’s Food Entrepreneurs
Next Post The Food Tech Show: Personalized Menus

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get The Spoon in Your Inbox

The Spoon Podcast Network!

Feed your mind! Subscribe to one of our podcasts!

Is Posha the Robotic Heir to the Thermomix? The Founders Sure Hope So
From Aspiring Pro Surfer to Delivery Robot CEO with Coco’s Zach Rash
Mark Cuban to Speak at SKS 2025
This Culinary Tech Inventor Thought He Could Build Some Parts For His Latest Gadget in the US. Then He Called Around.
Thermomix Has Long Been a Leader in Cooking Automation, But Now They’re Going Full Robot

Footer

  • About
  • Sponsor the Spoon
  • The Spoon Events
  • Spoon Plus

© 2016–2025 The Spoon. All rights reserved.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
 

Loading Comments...