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.
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!