News Briefs

Dishes from the most iconic restaurants and chefs from around the world delivered to your doorstep is now a possibility, thanks to food technology startup CloudChef.

This food tech startup debuts its proprietary ‘recipe record and playback technology’ which recreates dishes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite dishes and recipes from anywhere in the world, home-delivered.

The company claims that in blind taste tests, Michelin-starred chefs could not detect the difference between their dishes and those created by CloudChef,

CloudChef was founded by Nikhil Abraham, Atish Aloor, and Mohit Shah, whose mission is to build the ‘Spotify for food’. This new wave of food innovation envisions chefs as creators and allows them to monetize their creations just like musicians do without the constraints of brick and mortar.

How CloudChef Works

Chefs come into a CloudChef kitchen and prepare their recipes once. Sensors monitor the cooking process non-intrusively and synthesize the recipe into a machine-readable file. This codifies the intuition of a chef and makes the recipe robust to ingredient and location variability. The recipes can be flawlessly recreated in any CloudChef-enabled kitchen in the world in a ‘co-botic’ fashion where all cooking intelligence is software-automated. Each step of bringing a recipe to life - from sourcing ingredients, preparation, heating, and even factoring in things like elevation or humidity - are automatically adjusted and adapted. Food operators are guided through tasks which they execute without context, all while CloudChef’s software takes care of all the cooking intelligence.

Each time a recipe is ordered, the creator receives a royalty.

“It was an eye-opening moment when I saw that CloudChef was able to replicate my recipes better than highly trained chefs,” said chef Srijith Girija Gopinath, whose recipes are on the CloudChef platform. “With CloudChef, I can bring my recipes to a larger audience without having to open additional brick-and-mortar restaurants, knowing they are perfectly recreated and prepared to my standards.”

Featured Chefs and Recipes Available Now

CloudChef has already attracted chefs from across the globe to license their signature dishes, including 2-Star Michelin Chef Srijith Girija Gopinath (Ettan), Thomas Zacharias (Locavore, former Bombay Canteen), and Manjit Gill (former Bukhara). Dishes from these chefs and many more are available for order and delivery. Currently, CloudChef features nearly 100 recipes with new dishes and recipes added almost every day. 

 

WATCH: This video demonstration captured how CloudChef accomplishes this.

Available Now in Palo Alto, Calif.

Open in a public pilot program since October 2022, CloudChef boasts a 4.9/5 star rating on DoorDash and has quickly become a local favorite for local foodies and Indian diaspora alike. CloudChef now serves the Palo Alto, Calif., area. Consumers can order these chef’s creations through the CloudChef website and through select listings on third-party services like DoorDash, Shef, and EzCater.

CloudChef has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from celebrity chefs, including Tom Colicchio and Roy Yamaguchi, as well as technology titans like early Facebook investor Anand Rajaraman and former Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson.

Focus Brands says dual branding is the future of QSR, and the parent company of Auntie Anne’s®, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Schlotzsky’s, is leading the charge. Today, the Focus Brands portfolio boasts 175-plus open dual branded units with at least 65 more in various stages of development across the country. 

Drive-Thru Convenience

The Focus Brands portfolio brands have signed agreements to open more than 50 dual and tri-brand locations in the coming year, many of which include drive-thrus for added convenience as interest in dual branded franchise opportunities continues to surge.

Flexible Store Formats

Focus Brands is among the brands introducing new store formats, including Krystal, Jack-in-the-Box and Panera Bread, which opened its Panera To Go, solely offering Rapid Pick-Up and Delivery shelves where guests and delivery drivers can easily pick up orders.  

Focus Brands has long pioneered the concept of dual branding, predominately in malls and non-traditional locations with Auntie Anne’s and Cinnabon. Now, the company’s portfolio brands have found new opportunities with streetside dual branded units, which is paving the way for immense franchise growth. 

“Dual branding is the future of our brands, especially on the specialty side of the business,” said Brian Krause, Chief Development Officer at Focus Brands. “There will always be a place in malls, but there is an immense amount of growth opportunity in streetside venues, and, by dual branding, there is more opportunity for enhanced revenue.”

The company invested heavily in consumer research to identify how to create combinations of its iconic brands to resonate with consumers and meet them where they want to be met.

Focus Brands has identified four dual-brand concepts:

• Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon
• Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon/Carvel
• Auntie Anne’s/Jamba
• Cinnabon/Carvel – Cinnabon Swirl. 

While key consumer benefits vary by dual-brand combination, one consistent benefit has been convenience. Having these brands together in one location makes them far more accessible than they are individually. This convenience also creates opportunity for franchisees, as co-branding leads to an expansive menu that drives enhanced unit-level volume. 

 

Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux is making its largest technological investment in brand history.

Walk-On’s is implementing a systemwide aggregator to consolidate third party orders, partnering with Lunchbox to upgrade its online ordering platform and guest loyalty program, and introducing a partnership with Toast to level up its POS management system.

71% say the ability to integrate with other systems is driving their POS purchase decisions, according to HT’s2 2023 POS Software Trends Report.

Walk-On’s new loyalty program and app, designed by Lunchbox, are scheduled to launch in the first half of 2023 with an improved interface and back-end integration that will create a more seamless user experience for guests and operators alike. 

Continuing with marked enhancements to the guest experience, Walk-On’s is also partnering with BOWEN to modernize the brand’s website presence and streamline the online ordering experience. 

In addition to the upgraded Toast POS system, Walk-On’s is installing Toast Kitchen Display System, and rolling out Toast Go 2 mobile handheld POS devices for tableside and curbside use at current and future locations. 

Walk-On’s will implement a phased rollout across all current locations throughout 2023 and begin immediate implementation at all new restaurants in their development pipeline. 

INSPIRE, a global event solutions company owned by Ashford Inc., is pleased to announce the appointment of Sayi Puligandla as Chief Operating Officer.

In this position, Puligandla will oversee human resources, hospitality operations, information technology, and other projects to support the entire organization.

Puligandla brings to INSPIRE an extensive background in the hospitality industry and valuable experience in data, analytics, and building efficient operational units for accelerated growth. He was an executive vice president and a founding member of Nor1 (acquired by Oracle in 2020), a known pioneer and industry leader in hospitality upsell technology, where he architected and developed the analytics and BI infrastructure that paved the way for Nor1’s upsell science.

Upon Oracle’s acquisition of Nor1 in 2020, Sayi continued managing all aspects of Nor1’s Global Gaming business as its Senior Director, as well as Business Development and Strategic Account Management for all Nor1’s Global Accounts which included several of the ten largest hotel chains.

“Sayi is incredibly talented and a proven leader. His unparalleled background and expertise will propel us toward our goals and ensure we achieve individualized, valuable solutions for our clients,” said Chuck Bauman, CEO of INSPIRE. 

Cloud5 Communications, a provider of communications and technology solutions for more than 5,000 hotels, MDUs, and commercial facilities across the Americas, announced the appointment of telecommunications expert, Jerry Gore, as company CTO.  

Gore joins Cloud5 following an impressive career spanning more than 20 years wherein he has specialized in telecommunications architecture and integration, as well as software development and support services. Most recently, Gore served as CIO and CTO for CrossCom, a leading lifecycle technology solutions provider for several of the largest retail chain businesses within the US. While at CrossCom, Gore oversaw the company’s transition from providing telecommunications services to serving as a full on-premise technology provider. Leveraging his expertise in technology and software development, Gore also successfully spearheaded integration efforts for companies acquired by CrossCom, and launched a new help desk division that leveraged automation to provide excellence in retail customer support operations.   

“We are excited to welcome Jerry to the Cloud5 team,” said Mark Holzberg, CEO of Cloud5 Communications. “As we continue to innovate, develop deeper integrations with key technologies and partners and bring even greater value and support to clients, Jerry’s expertise and leadership will be critical to our continued success.” 

Earlier in his career, Gore has served as a consultant for Centric Consulting, and founded LOIS, Inc., a software development consulting firm. Jerry holds a BA from Illinois Wesleyan University and is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s advanced management program.

Let us Nudge, a restaurant seating maximization technology, announces the launch of its Nudge@Home platform backed by NudgeAI. 

Nudge@Home allows for restaurants to nudge customers at home with incentives to visit the restaurant, such as discounts, free food, new menu items and more. The customers can accept or deny the nudge and if accepted, the restaurant receives a notification the customer is headed in.

Let us Nudge, which serves large franchise chains, fine dining and small family-owned restaurants, launched with its in-restaurant solution, Nudge Table Turnover. Nudge Table Turnover optimizes restaurant traffic and frequency by gently nudging customers during busy times to aid in table turnover with incentives. The Nudge Table Turnover solution has helped restaurants increase revenue by 20%, according to the company.

Both solutions are powered by NudgeAI, a patent-pending SaaS technology that delivers real-time data and analytics to help restaurant owners and operators improve their targeted marketing and campaign management. According to SmallBiz Genius, 95 percent of restaurants feel technology can improve restaurant efficiency, including food cost management, staffing and consumer traffic flow.