News Briefs

Holland America Line has experienced a notable surge in guest satisfaction with internet service this year as the cruise line completes the installation of SpaceX's Starlink high-speed internet on each of the 11 ships in its fleet. The final ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, was outfitted with the technology in mid-December during drydock. Starlink is the leader in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology providing high-speed internet around the world.

Holland America Line first installed Starlink internet on Koningsdam in April 2023. Connectivity has significantly improved across the fleet with each Starlink installation, which is particularly noticeable in historically spotty service areas where weather, topography or port interference can impact bandwidth and quality.

"Holland America Line's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies underscores our dedication to delivering an exceptional experience to our guests and team members," said Gus Antorcha, president, Holland America Line. "The successful integration of Starlink represents a strategic move to embrace innovation and elevate connectivity and convenience while cruising."

Guests and team members across Holland America Line's fleet are noticing the improvement in connectivity. Since installing the advanced high-speed internet, Holland America Line has seen increased satisfaction scores along with stronger bandwidth in key regions.

"We've heard from guests the new Starlink high-speed internet is better than they expected while cruising," said Kathleen Erickson, vice president of technology for Holland America Line. "For guests who are working remotely from our ships, it has been a game-changer. And for team members who rely on internet to stay connected with family back home, this is an important improvement."

The upgrade to Starlink internet ensures a more reliable connection in all weather conditions and locations. The high-speed internet is especially crucial for professional communications, enabling remote work for guests on board in regions such as Alaska where traditional technology can face interference from weather and mountains. The ships have also seen improvement in connectivity in other challenging areas including ocean crossings and sailings in the Amazon, Antarctica and Chile.

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced it is investing in Greenfield Robotics, a company founded with the vision of making regenerative farming more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable by leveraging the latest advances in AI, robotics, and sensing technologies, and Nitricity, a company seeking to tackle greenhouse gas emissions by creating fertilizer products that are better for fields, farmers, and the environment. These minority investments are being made through Chipotle's $50 million Cultivate Next venture fund.

Cultivate Next makes early-stage investments into strategically aligned companies that further Chipotle's mission to Cultivate a Better World and help accelerate the company's aggressive growth plans. As a people-first company, Chipotle is seeking opportunities that will elevate the human experience for its restaurant teams and suppliers as well as increase access and convenience for its guests.

Robots for Regenerative Agriculture 

Conventional farming destroys weeds with chemicals and soil tillage, resulting in escalating costs, soil erosion and degradation of soil, resistant weeds, and health risks for both wildlife and humans. Greenfield Robotics provides regenerative agriculture solutions without chemicals. Their fleets of autonomous robots are lightweight and cut weeds between rows of broadacre crops, day or night, reducing dependence on herbicides while supporting regenerative farming practices and reducing risk for farmers.

With its Cultivate Next investment, Greenfield Robotics will continue its efforts to build out its fleet of autonomous agricultural robots and develop additional capabilities for forthcoming iterations of its robots, including micro-spraying, cover crop planting, and soil testing.

"The work of Greenfield Robotics to build out a tech forward alternative to herbicides plays an important role in ensuring a more sustainable future for the agricultural industry," said Curt Garner, Chief Customer and Technology Officer, Chipotle. "We will help Greenfield Robotics scale their robotic offerings and explore how their robots can be deployed on farms within our supply chain."

"Like Chipotle's commitment to Food with Integrity, we believe in the future of real, responsibly and sustainably raised food," said Clint Brauer, founder of Greenfield Robotics. "In partnership with Chipotle, we can continue to explore creative solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing farmers across the United States."

New Age Fertilizer 

Inspired by the natural occurrence of lightning breaking down nitrogen in the air and rainwater bringing it to the soil as nitrate to create natural fertilizer, Nitricity has pioneered a practice of creating artificial lightning. The company leverages air, water, and renewable energy from the artificial lightning to produce a cleaner, more sustainable, and cost-efficient fertilizer. The current process of producing, distributing, and using nitrogen fertilizer by way of the Haber-Bosch method requires a large amount of fossil fuels and emits significant amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to 5-7% of total global GHG (greenhouse gases). Nitricity's nitrogen fertilizer has 5 to 10 times less GHG emissions due to its electrified production and field application process. Nitricity is building its production model of fertilizer on or near its end customers to limit the emissions from fertilizer distribution and application. Currently, up to 20% of fertilizer in the U.S. is imported through an expensive and complex supply chain.

Nitricity has started field trials for their fertilizer product with Salinas Valley farmers, including Chipotle suppliers in the region. Funding from Cultivate Next will be used to scale up Nitricity's production of nitrogen, build out the company's infrastructure, and support the launch of its first commercial product within the next two years.

"We're proud to support Nitricity's pursuit of a product innovation whose environmental benefits are complimentary to Chipotle's approach to Food With Integrity," said Jack Hartung, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Chipotle. He added, "Fertilizers have experienced steep price increases in recent years due to supply chain issues, fossil fuel price volatility, and rising distribution costs. Nitricity's fertilizer offering not only has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the fertilizer industry, but it can be a cost-effective solution for growers in our supply chain."

"Nitricity is committed to producing fertilizer that is optimized for farmers, not factory production or freight distribution," said Nico Pinkowski, co-founder and CEO of Nitricity. "Partnering with Chipotle will unquestionably accelerate our path toward disrupting the industry with climate-smart technology."

Tim McAfee, a Cultivate Next Venture Collaborator and current Chipotle produce supplier noted: "I have visited the facilities of both Nitricity and Greenfield Robotics and am optimistic and enthusiastic about the impact these innovations could have on the growing community."

What's Next for Cultivate Next? 
Chipotle will continue to provide more updates on the Cultivate Next venture fund in 2024 and beyond. Companies interested in collaborating with Chipotle through the Cultivate Next venture fund can apply by emailing [email protected].  

TGI Fridays  announced  the hiring of Ray Risley as U.S President and Chief Operating Officer and Nik Rupp as President of International Markets and Chief Financial Officer. Both will report directly to CEO Weldon Spangler, who was appointed in October.

In the role as U.S. President and Chief Operating Officer,  Risley will be responsible for the supervision and management of the operational facets and performance standards of all TGI Fridays establishments within the United States, encompassing both Company-owned and Franchised entities. Risley joins TGI Fridays after serving as CEO of Via 313 Pizzeria, where he doubled the brand's number of units and successfully positioned the award-winning independent pizza chain for significant future expansion. Prior to that, he was President and COO of Front Burner Society, where he was integral to the growth of the Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar concept. Mr. Risley notably spent nearly 20 years in a variety of leadership roles at Del Frisco's Restaurant Group, Inc, including most recently as President of Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse.

TGI Fridays is also announcing the hiring of Nik Rupp as Chief Financial Officer and President of International. In this role, Mr. Rupp will oversee the financial strategy of TGI Fridays with an emphasis in accounting, finance and capital structure, as well as focus on growth and managing relationships with International franchisees. Mr. Rupp most recently held the role of COO at Papa Murphy's International, subsequent to serving as the company's CFO. Throughout his tenure at Papa Murphy's, he played an instrumental role in driving a clear vision, strategy, and growth for the international pizza company. Previously, Mr. Rupp held leadership positions at esteemed global consumer brands, among them, Specialized, Nike and Converse.

"We have a significant opportunity to lead this much-loved, heritage brand through a revitalized new chapter, and by bringing on Ray and Nik to our leadership team, we are confident in what we can accomplish in the coming year," said Weldon Spangler, CEO of TGI Fridays. "Not only do Ray and Nik have tremendous experience in the restaurant industry that will drive growth for our brand and our franchisees, but their enthusiasm and passion for TGI Fridays will also be a cornerstone to our vision for the company."

This news comes as TGI Fridays continues the revitalization of its brand, including reinvigorating many of its legacy menu offerings. Most recently, TGI Fridays unveiled its most innovative bar menu to date with the launch of its "Claus for Celebration" menu, offering up an incredible 14 new cocktails and mocktails for the holiday season. In addition, the brand revamped its world-renowned appetizers menu and rolled out its new Grilled & Sauced™ platform earlier this year.

With a laser focus on operational excellence and compelling menu offerings, TGI Fridays will continue to execute its growth-oriented business plan focused on revitalizing TGI Fridays. Delivering on "That Fridays Feeling™" has been synonymous with the iconic brand for nearly 60 years.

TGI Fridays operates and franchises nearly 700 restaurants across 51 countries. The company saw total system wide sales of $1.6B in 2022 with same US sales growing at +8% compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic). The company announced its most significant deal in September of last year, consisting of 75 new franchised restaurants to be opened throughout South and Southeast Asia over the next 10 years representing an additional $500MM in restaurant revenue.

Reunitus, a pioneer in reuniting millions of lost items with their owners since 2004, is proud to release the latest upgrade to Lost to Found™, our industry-leading software solution for streamlined and optimized lost and found management. The highly intuitive, fully integrated platform creates friction-free pathways to get lost items back into the hands of their owners – fast.

“Our software achieves the highest matching lost and found accuracy by gathering critical lost item and guest information through a proven auto-fill system and by leveraging sophisticated tracing algorithms,” said Byron Smith, Chief Technology Officer for Reunitus. “Collecting information is easy for a company’s employees using AI technology and smart workflows. At the same time, it’s a robust process that creates a solid chain of custody for every item.”

Features of the Lost to Found platform include:

• Lost Item Reporting: Allows customers to report lost items in just a few steps via an easy-to-use portal.

• Chain of Custody: Provides a company’s employees with a single location for entering found items and track chain of custody from beginning to end.

• Lost Item Tracing: Leverages sophisticated and proprietary analytics to locate and facilitate item returns.

• Data Security: Gives companies peace of mind that all data is encrypted and securely stored – PCI/GDPR compliant.

• Lost Item Shipping: Allows customers to pay for the return of their items and pick their preferred shipping method.

• Unclaimed Item Monetization: Creates an effortless path for unclaimed items to be responsibly donated, recycled or sold at maximum revenue potential.

Lost to Found software is customizable to fit the branding and workflow of any business, presenting it as the company’s own lost and found page. Once a lost report is filed, customers receive proactive and effective status updates, relieving employees of the responsibility to manage the process, contributing to a streamlined approach and leading to a better customer experience.

“Leveraging our expertise since 2004, our latest iteration of Lost to Found software builds on decades of experience and innovation, further solidifying our position as the foremost authority in returning lost items to their rightful owners,” said Bryan Owens, Chief Executive Officer for Reunitus. “At our core, we’re problem solvers and trusted partners, prepared to help a wide range of businesses make every loss a win for their company, customers and employees.”

To learn more about Lost to Found by Reunitus, visit reunitus.com/software/reunitus-lost-found.

Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, the renowned restaurant and sports bar concept, is proud to announce the appointment of two industry veterans with Tyler Schack stepping in as the Vice President of Technology and  Jamie Davis being named the Vice President of Supply Chain & Procurement.

"We are thrilled to welcome Jamie Davis and Tyler Schack to the Walk-On's family. Their extensive experience and proven track records in their respective fields align seamlessly with our commitment to delivering top-notch experiences for our guests and assembling a high-caliber team to drive Walk-On's to new heights." said Chris Dawson, CEO of Walk-On's.

As the VP of Supply Chain & Procurement, Davis brings over fifteen years of invaluable experience in the Foodservice industry to her role at Walk-On's. Her previous experience includes positions as the VP of Supply Chain & Procurement at Insomnia Cookies, VP of Supply Chain at Edible Brands, Director of Supply Chain at Focus Brands (Cinnabon), and Director of Supply Chain at Tropical Smoothie Café. She's a proven procurement strategist who excels at building scalable distribution networks as a foundation for rapid revenue growth.