Photo illustration by Nico Heins
Welcome to RBs weekly summary of the latest restaurant technology. To get this and other technical news delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday, click here.
While we were busy covering the FSTEC conference last week, the restaurant technology news kept coming.
Check out some of our most-read FSTEC reports below, or scroll down to see what else you might have been missing out on.
Noodles & Company opened its second ghost kitchen. The new store in downtown San Jose, California follows an initial trial in Chicago that began in the spring. The company said the kitchens were an inexpensive way to expand while improving access to its groceries.
The chain sees San Jose as an emerging market and will use the kitchen to get a feel for customer dynamics in the area, CMO Stacey Pool said in a statement.
Both of Fast Casual’s ghost kitchens are located in multi-brand facilities operated by CloudKitchens. Customers can order on the Noodles website or app or through third-party providers.
Back office technology company MarginEdge raised $ 18 million. The Series B round was led by Schooner Capital and included a contribution from major distributor Gordon Food Service’s investment arm, Relish Works. Working with 2,400+ restaurants in 47 states, MarginEdge is well on its way to ending 2021 with 200% year-over-year growth.
Delivery software company Vromo raised $ 8 million. The Series A round was led by the Dutch company No Such Ventures. Dublin-based Vromo spun off from a last mile delivery company in 2019 to focus solely on the software side. Its technology helps restaurants offer more efficient delivery with a focus on the customer experience. Vromo will use the funding to continue growing in both Europe and the US
Apex Order Pickup Solutions has introduced a high-tech collection system for lockers. The OrderHQ series can be integrated into a restaurant’s POS and allows customers to collect their food by entering a unique code. It also provides data on job efficiency and can make work easier by automating the handover. The lockers are made by equipment giant Welbilt.
Apex’s pick-up lockers are available as floor or counter models. / Photo courtesy of Apex Order Pickup Solutions
Pizzerias using the Slice platform can now offer video game perks to their diners. The tech company launched Slice Gaming, a partnership with video game company Ubisoft, on Monday. Over the course of the next month, customers who order pizza via Slice will receive rewards that they can use for purchases in the new game “Far Cry 6”. The initiative is part of Slice’s strategy of giving independent pizzerias the same tools as large chains.
You can now pay with your face on the Boba robotic machine. Bobacino, the fully automated boba kiosk, is working with the facial recognition payment company PopID to enable the new contactless payment method. Customers with a PopID account can pay by face while ordering at the machine or when pre-ordering via the PopID app. Both companies are supported by the venture capital firm Wavemaker.
The Ghost kitchen company Epic Kitchens has appointed three people to its board of directors. They are:
- Jeremy Wing, co-founder and vice chairman of financial technology company Payroc and an entrepreneur / investor.
- Meredith Sandland, former COO of Kitchen United and former Chief Development Officer at Taco Bell.
- Brice Scheschuk, Managing Partner at Globalive Capital and co-founder and former CFO of Wind Mobile (now Freedom Mobile).
Epic Kitchens prepares multiple brands of food in a single facility for delivery and collection. It is focused on growing in Chicago, where one location is currently operational and another will follow shortly.
The corporate catering marketplace EzCater has hired a Chief Product Officer. Josh Berg previously held executive positions at Wayfair and CarGurus, and helped both companies go public. He comes to ezCater at a time of rapid growth: the company has seen order volume grow 70% in recent months as employees return to the offices and plans to increase its workforce by 50% this year.
Thanx and Tattle integrate to improve loyalty. Both companies collect customer data in different ways – Thanx via transactions and Tattle via detailed surveys. Thanx then enables restaurants to create personalized promotions based on this information. The integration will give restaurants access to “the most comprehensive data available,” according to the companies.
In case you missed it …
How restaurants can get third-party delivery up and running for her.
Robots could be The best hope of food delivery.
DoorDash starts alcohol delivery.
A look at Chick-fil-As Ghost Kitchen, Little Blue Menu.
