These days, even the most regional restaurant chains are investing in new store prototypes with smaller dining rooms and increased focus on drive-thrus and digital orders. To keep up with consumer demand, the most tech-forward-looking brands come up with even more flashy, digitally-forward-looking store designs, as Taco Bells recently announced ‘Defy’ four-lane-drive-thru design.
This month, the restaurant industry saw several new digital technology-focused in-store prototypes announced, including at Taco Bell and Panera.
Robots are once again taking up space in the restaurant industry, with Grubhub bringing delivery bots to university campuses and Chick-fil-A investing in artificial intelligence. Also the latest food brand to dive into the meta-verse is Kraft, which filed trademarks for NFTs and a future digital restaurant.
Tech Tracker rounds out what’s happening in the technology industry in the restaurant industry, including news from restaurants, vendors, digital platforms and third-party delivery companies. Here is an overview of what you need to know and why:
Kraft became the latest – and one of the largest – food companies to enter the meta-verse by filing trademark applications for their brands Kraft, Jell-o, Kool-Aid, Velveeta, Lunchables, Oscar Meyer and Philadelphia. Like almost every other brand before, Kraft has not published any official announcement of plans for its digital presence, but the brand includes NFTs and virtual restaurants, food and beverages. Kraft is not the only restaurant making the digital dive: Tony Roma applied for NFT trademarks in the meta verse last month.
Panera and Taco Bell launch digital tech-forward store formats
Panera Bread and Taco Bell have both been tech pioneers in the restaurant industry, and now both brands are pushing the boundaries of tech-savvy store prototypes.
Taco Bell’s new store offering will be known as “Defy” and opened in Brooklyn Park, Minn. this month with four drive-thru lanes and a range of digital technical conveniences such as digital check-in screens that let customers place orders via QR code and have their food delivered by a contactless proprietary lift system, while two-way audio and video features will allow customers to chat with employees throughout the non-contact process.
While Panera Bread’s new Panera To Go device without seating is nowhere near as flashy as the Taco Bell, it’s worth noting that Panera has pushed the boundaries of contactless technology since the pandemic began. Panera to Go follows the announcement of contactless eat-in service and has both a drive-thru and a pick-up area for guests and delivery drivers.
Chick-fil-A now has delivery robots
Chick-fil-A is the latest fast-service restaurant frolicking in AI technology. The Chicken chain is partnering with Refraction AI to test autonomous delivery at two locations in Austin, Texas (which turns out to be the hotbed of autonomous delivery and drone testing).
This self-propelled robot rides either on the bike path or on the road shoulder and is designed to complete deliveries on the last mile without requiring additional manpower.
“The platform will enable us to deliver fast, high-quality and cost-effective food delivery within a 1.5 km radius of our restaurant, while helping to keep the community we serve environmentally clean and safe,” said Chick. -file-A franchisee Luke Steigmeyer about the service being tested at his restaurant.
Grubhub brings autonomous delivery to university campuses
When we talk about delivery robots, Grubhub is investing in artificial intelligence and bringing bots to university campuses at the national level this fall in collaboration with Cartken. The pilot was tested in collaboration with Ohio State University this spring and will now be rolled out to 250 university campuses when students return from summer vacation.
“We are excited to work with Grubhub to delight robotic students and campus staff,” Christian Bersch, CEO of Cartken, said in a statement. “This collaboration is in line with our mission to use robotic technology and AI technology to deliver frictionless and environmentally sustainable delivery and enable robots to serve society.”
Lunchbox acquires digital ordering provider NovaDine
Tech’s groundbreaking Lunchbox has entered the acquisition area for the second time with the announcement that the company has agreed to buy NovaDine, which offers an end-to-end digital order solution. NovaDine’s list of restaurant partners includes Firehouse Subs, Torchy’s Tacos, Taco Bueno and Steak & amp; Shake – which has now been added to Lunchbox’s list of partners.
This announcement comes on the heels of Lunchbox’s acquisition of online marketplace, Spread. With these acquisitions, Lunchbox is cementing its goal of becoming the perfect technology solution.
“Traditionally, restaurants have faced the huge hurdle of having to choose from several different technological tools to run their businesses, understand their digital customers and scale operations,” Lunchbox CEO Nabeel Alamgir said in a statement. “NovaDine has built an entire platform that enables the operator to manage all digital orders from a single operating system.”
DoorDash adds Yelp-like review features
DoorDash has been busy over the past month with the completion of food delivery company Wolts’ acquisition and the announcement that the company would launch and curate reviews in the app, like Yelp, to extend its algorithm to customer recommendations.
DoorDash now offers customers lists of top-rated restaurants in their neighborhood, with features including written reviews and the most popular items, to end the customer trend with endless, pointless scrolling through the DoorDash app.
DoorDash is the last of the “three big” delivery companies to add written reviews, but the first to include curated top 10 lists for customers based on cuisine, location, etc.
Square launches mobile POS features
POS systems perform the upgrade as operators demand more features on handheld devices as opposed to traditional POS systems. Last month, Square announced a new feature: Square for Restaurants mobile POS, which allows servers to receive orders and payments through the device in their pockets. The two devices that Square will use are Square Terminal and the upcoming Restaurant Mobile POS kit, which will be released this fall.
The features of these new devices include order flow management from kitchen to table, route tickets, connections to loyalty programs and integration with OpenTable.
BentoBox joins the ranks of technology companies rushing to add features and become an “all in one” technology solution: The all-new BentoBox Payments is in partnership with Clover, enabling employees to take orders, process payments and manage them all on one platform.
“Restaurants do not have the time or resources to balance countless dashboards and partners. Instead, they need simple, unified solutions that enable them to reach their customers on their terms, ”says Krystle Mobayeni, co-founder of BentoBox and head of restaurants at Fiserv in a statement. “We meet this need and bring restaurants a customizable platform that enhances front- and back-of-house operations and delivers a unique digital experience for dining guests.”
Contact Joanna Fantozzi at [email protected]
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