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☆ McDonald's to end AI drive-through test with IBM
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Kate Rogers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The drive-through menu at a McDonald's restaurant showing various meal options and promotions, in Buttonwillow in Kern County, California, on 23, 2024. The fast-food giant will end a test run of its AI drive-through technology partnership with IBM in more than 100 restaurants. In a statement, McDonald's told CNBC it is not ruling out potential AI drive-through plans in the future, even though it ended the IBM partnership. In statement, IBM said it will work with McDonald's on "a variety of other projects" as the test ends. While McDonald's AI plans for the future are unclear, all eyes will be on Alphabet 's Google.

Persons: Mason Smoot, McDonald's, Sundar Pichai, Peter Saleh, Saleh Organizations: IBM, CNBC, McDonald's, Yum Brands, Mastercard, Google Locations: Buttonwillow, Kern County , California, Del Taco, Barcelona

☆ Food experts say these restaurant trends are dominating dining out — from mashups like birria ramen to ever-spicier dishes and the rise of 'swicy'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Mashups involve combining two or more dishes — sometimes a mixture of sweet and savory or a fusion of cuisines. They can provide a twist on a classic and sometimes generate social media buzz. And they've been appearing more and more frequently on restaurant menus. Birria — a Mexican beef stew — has been served in the form of quesadillas, poutine, pasta, tacos, and ramen, including at sit-down restaurants as well as at taco chain Del Taco. In a report from November, the National Restaurant Association called birria a "social media darling" and said diners should expect to see it on menus in creative applications.

Persons: they're smartly, Nancy Kruse, they've, —, IHOP, Think, Mashups, Lizzy Freier Organizations: taco, National Restaurant Association Locations: Mexican

☆ People are really annoyed about the price of fast food
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Fast food is getting more expensive, and Americans are annoyed about it. Diners told BI they're cutting back on how often they get fast food because of rising prices. AdvertisementBut cheaper fast food may be some way off. Experts say it could have a ripple effect on wages across the fast food industry nationwide, meaning that your favorite spots could become even pricier. The main reason Rodriguez gets fast food is the taste, he said.

Persons: —, Sara Senatore, Dunkin, Warren Colehour, Chad Frye, Artur Widak, Frye, Martin Jennings, it's, Chipotle, James R, Martin, Ben Heyworth, Burger King, He's, Del, Richard McConnell, Ricardo Rodriguez, Rodriguez Organizations: Service, Bank of America, McDonald's USA, Getty, Subway, Consumers, McDonald's Locations: Ukraine, McDonald's, Kentucky, California, Florida, Olive, Burger, Oregon

☆ From taking orders to cutting avocados, AI is solving the labor shortage problem for fast-food chains
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Checkers & Rally'sLast year, Checkers & Rally's became one of the first big chains to implement widespread use of AI-powered voice assistants. Out of the 803 Checkers and Rally's restaurants, voice AI was live in 390 as of August. AdvertisementAdvertisementSoundHound, best known as a music-recognition app, has spent years perfecting its conversational voice AI bots. Sister burger chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's also announced plans to test Presto's AI voice bots this year. Hardee's and Carl's Jr. are also testing voice AI bots by OpenCity.

Persons: DoorDash, Deloitte, Keyvan Mohajer, it's, Mohajer, Schier, Rally's, Domino's, ConverseNow, SoundHound, SoundHound's Mohajer, Beef, Chippy, Rebecca Harrington, McDonald's, Carl's Jr, Del, Carl's, Hardee's, Presto, Taco, Chris Turner, Turner, Taco Bell Organizations: Service, Chipotle, Industry, National Restaurant Association, Deloitte, Wingstop Tech, Anthony's, Slim, Dialog, Taco Bell, Taco, Yum Brands Locations: White, Wall, Silicon, McDonald's, Texas, California , Texas, Florida, Chicago, Thai, Newport Beach , California, Del Taco, Mexican, Southern California, Taco Bell's

☆ An enduring food favorite of Elon Musk across 3 decades is Jack in the Box's teriyaki bowl
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Musk's favorite dish there was the teriyaki bowl, which he ordered again when he revisited the chain along with Walter Isaacson. AdvertisementAdvertisement"I can still tell you every single menu item," Kimbal told Isaacson, "It's just seared into my brain." Musk told Isaacson, "I'm supposed to be fasting now, but I just have to get something here." Jack in the Box is a fast food chain founded in 1951. Musk isn't alone in loving fast food staples — Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are also self-declared fans of Coca-Cola.

Persons: Elon, Musk's, Walter Isaacson, Kimbal, Zip2, —, Isaacson, couldn't, Musk, Grimes, Jack, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Buffett Organizations: Service, YMCA, Zip2, Elon, West, Del Taco, CNBC Locations: Wall, Silicon, San Diego , California, West Coast

☆ How restaurants such as Panera and Chipotle are dipping into A.I. to streamline food prep and ordering
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Kate Rogers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

From drive-thru to back-of-house operations to predictive ordering for consumers, restaurant brands are starting to pilot artificial intelligence to streamline food service. McDonald's , for its part, sold McD Tech Labs to IBM in 2021, entering a strategic partnership to help bring AI technology to drive-thru lanes. McD Tech Labs, which was formerly known as Apprente before McDonald's acquired it, used AI to understand drive-thru orders. Del Taco is also using voice-activated AI for orders at its drive-thru, as is Wingstop for orders placed by phone. For Panera, it's a question of, "How do we redeploy our people to higher value, higher quality guest experiences," said Chief Digital Officer George Hanson.

Persons: there's, TD Cowen, Andrew Charles, Cowen, Charles ., Carl's Jr, CKE, Dragontail, McDonald's, George Hanson, Hanson Organizations: National Restaurant Association, Presto, Brands, Tech Labs, IBM, Miso Robotics, CNBC Locations: U.S, Del

Wendy's will pilot its new AI drive-thru tech this month at some locations in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The hesitancy to discuss any generative AI implementation is understandable. That said, we think that generative AI opportunities at Starbucks are still worth considering. This is where we think there's a clear opportunity for margin improvement as generative AI adoption goes mainstream. There are going to be a lot of opportunities to invest in to play the adoption of generative AI outside of tech.

Persons: hasn't, WEN, Jack, JACK, we've, Todd Penegor, Jim Cramer, Wendy's, Darin Harris, Jim, Harris, It's, —, China's, Jim Cramer's, Scott Mlyn Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Club, Del, Starbucks, AIs, chatbots, Global, Companies, CNBC Locations: Columbus , Ohio, U.S, QSRs, Wendy's, Glassdoor, Dana Point , California

☆ Carl's Jr. and Hardee's to roll out Presto's A.I. drive-thru ordering nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's locations will roll out automated drive-thru ordering nationwide using Presto's artificial intelligence software. Together, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have about 2,800 restaurants across 44 U.S. states. Hardee's locations are mostly in the Midwest and South, while Carl's Jr. restaurants are found in the West. CKE tested the software last year at a handful of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's locations. CKE operates about 250 of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants, while franchisees run the rest.

☆ Why Corporate America has grown silent on gun violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Their efforts to curb gun violence have run into fierce pushback from Republican lawmakers that oppose both gun restrictions and corporations taking on social roles. Gun safety advocates say businesses have a civic responsibility to keep their customers and employees safe from gun violence. “Whether you’re a business that works directly with gun manufacturers, sells guns or are a grocery store, gun violence comes to your front door,” he said. “I’m not arguing they need to solve the social issue of gun violence,” Volksy said. “I am arguing they have a business incentive to solve for the cost of gun violence.”

☆ Wendy's is once again slashing plans for ghost kitchen locations — delivering a blow to struggling Reef Technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wendy's had plans to open 700 locations through ghost kitchen operator Reef Technology. Wendy's Chief Financial Officer Gunther Plosch confirmed the chain's restaurant-growth projection is down as a result of slashing its ghost kitchen strategy. Wendy's said it currently has 16 Reef locations in the UK. At its peak in mid-2021, the SoftBank-backed startup operated more than 330 food trailers in the US and abroad. Jack in the Box ended its ghost kitchen partnership with Reef Technology in 2022.

☆ I tried Taco Bell's Beyond Meat quesadilla at the only place it's available in the US. The meatless 'steak' could've fooled me, and I now want to try it on everything.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Cassy Crabtree | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I tried Taco Bell's Beyond Meat quesadilla at the only place it's available in the US. Cassy Crabtree tried Taco Bell's Beyond Carne Asada Steak Quesadilla. Cassy Crabtree On October 13, Taco Bell introduced its new Beyond Meat Carne Asada Steak Quesadilla. Taco Bell I visited my local Taco Bell in Tipp City, Ohio (a suburb of Dayton). I tried Taco Bell's Beyond Carne Asada Steak Quesadilla.

☆ Burger King, Popeyes, and Jack in the Box cut ties with ghost kitchen Reef as the SoftBank-backed startup continues to face operational issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jack in the Box, Burger King, and Popeyes have ended their expansion plans with Reef. Burger King, Popeyes, Jack in the Box, and Del Taco have ended their partnerships with Reef Technology, a ghost-kitchen startup. Health inspectors in Austin, Texas, suspended four Reef food trailers after a recent inspection last month. In mid-September, Philadelphia inspectors cited a Reef kitchen trailer for having the wrong retail-operating license, food-safety inspection records show. Are you a Reef insider with insight to share?

☆ Ghost kitchen startup Reef is facing new trailer shutdowns and violations. Insiders have long said it skirts health and safety regulations.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Austin health inspectors suspended four Reef food trailers after a recent inspection. And this month, Philadelphia inspectors cited a Reef kitchen trailer for having the wrong retail operating license, food-safety inspection records show. The company has previously said its engineless mobile kitchen vessels are difficult to inspect under existing permitting frameworks. "In every city where Reef operates, Reef seeks the appropriate permits," a Reef representative said in an email to Insider. The violation occurs when a kitchen trailer has not been authorized through the inspection process to sell and prepare food.

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