Kiosks, NFTs and Other Robots

1. Are Self-Order Kiosks Now a Must Have?

Heavyweights like 麦当劳 ’s, Taco Bell and Panera Bread proving the value of self-order kiosks.

The slow trickle that began in 2003 seems to be accelerating into a steady stream at larger chains.

Shake Shack’s Q3 call Thursday, in which CFO Katie Fogerty said kiosks?are the chain’s most profitable channel, yielding higher check sizes, higher margins and better labor utilization.?

2. Microsoft engineering leader is raising cash?for Robots

Founded earlier this year,?Ally Robotics?is developing a hardware and no-code software product meant to simulate physical tasks traditionally done by humans — grabbing cups, frying french fries, sanding wood, etc.

The company has already signed a $30 million letter-of-intent with Miso Robotics, the Los Angeles-area restaurant automation company behind?Flippy, and has $400,000 of robotics-as-a-service contracts in place with a bubble tea company and a manufacturing equipment provider.

It has also raised $10 million from a bevy of backers including Miso, private investors, and?via crowdfunding sites.

3. Sponsored: Affordable Luxury:?Brooklyn lobster franchise to open in Richmond

The franchise currently includes seven actively operating locations. Bonds said the franchise survived the pandemic by focusing on takeout.

The Richmond’s location will be closer to the original Brooklyn restaurant.

“This will be a restaurant lounge model, as opposed to the takeout model we’ve used in other franchise locations before,” he said.

Bonds said he hopes this new focus on dining will allow the restaurant to serve as a flagship location in the city, opening the possibility to more takeout locations near places like VCU.

Richmond was chosen as a franchise location as far back as February 2021, because it was where Bonds’ uncle lived.

“My uncle was familiar with the area,” Bonds said. “So we put together a team of individuals who live in Richmond but are from New York.”

4. Picnic Works?New Automated Kitchens

Picnic's roster of clients includes food service companies like Sodexo Live, Compass and Chartwells, as well as Dominos' Pizza Enterprises and SeaWorld.

In August, the company signed a deal with a?Louisiana-based automated restaurant group, which Picnic said could be worth $800 million.

ContekPro has produced more than 150 modular kitchens and its customers include Providence and the U.S. Army.

"The food service industry is changing, customer demands are evolving, and we entered a new construction era after the pandemic," ContekPro co-founder?Reda Attahri?said.

"We manufacture turnkey products that embrace modern operators and offer cost-effective and environmentally-sound options."

5. Wow Bao's new?NFT membership program

“We did it more to make the NFT program available to as many people as possible,” Alexander said.

“My understanding of the metavere is that it’s very much community-based, so we wanted to make it available and easy to understand for every user.”

This is the same logic behind making the NFT program affordable, with memberships running at high single digits to low double digit-prices per month.

This is in stark contrast to other NFT membership programs in the hospitality industry that have thus far targeted a very exclusive audience with luxury six-figure price tags.