Innovation

🏨 Hotel managers, are your skilled staff stuck in manual low-value tasks? Outdated SOPs and repetitive data entry sap productivity and morale, costing you potential revenue. Automating tasks like data aggregation and reporting with tools like Demand Calendar can free teams for high-impact work. This shift enhances guest experiences, boosts employee engagement, and improves profit margins. Stop the drain of manual inefficiency, and let your hotel reach its full potential now.

💸 Tariffs are impacting the cost of plastic lids, foil wrap, stainless steel equipment, kitchen parts, and containers, with food prices also climbing due to unstable global supply chains and rising costs of imported ingredients, packaging, and transportation. Independents are facing a new wave of margin pressure, with experts cautioning against simply raising prices, cutting portions, or reducing headcount. AI is suggested as a tactical advantage to control operations amidst these financial challenges.

💾 Dave’s Hot Chicken, over the past 18 months, tested two robotic arms and piloted kiosks, digital menu boards, and other technologies. Robotic arms improved fry consistency and portioning but didn't reduce labor. Kiosks, now processing 25% of orders, increased average checks by 4-6%. Technology investments aim to enhance guest experience and streamline operations, such as integrating robotic fryers with POS systems and predicting wait times for more accurate delivery scheduling.

🍻 On Jun 12, 2025, Hospitality Technology will feature Coca-Cola, which has spent 139 years in the industry, discussing its role in shaping the future of digital beverage offerings. Coca-Cola's research indicates digital ordering may comprise 35%-50% of restaurant revenue in the next decade. The company's partnerships with DoorDash and UberEats account for approximately 90% of third-party platform orders, which exceed 10 million daily orders in the U.S. Coca-Cola helps restaurants increase profitability through optimized digital menus and effective customer engagement. A case study highlighted significant revenue growth from menu adjustments. The webinar features Josh Gurley, Coca-Cola's VP of Digital Partnerships & Capabilities, and is sponsored by Coca-Cola.

🦋 The FDA approved three natural food colorants, phasing out petroleum-based dyes between 2026-2028. The approved colorants are Galdieria blue, butterfly pea extract, and calcium phosphate. This follows the ban of nine artificial food dyes linked to health risks by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The FDA plans to authorize four more natural additives soon, as stated by FDA commissioner Dr. Martin A. Makary. Galdieria extract blue is now approved for a wide range of foods and beverages, butterfly pea flower extract can be used in additional snack items, and calcium phosphate is approved for certain confections and ready-to-eat chicken.

🚲 DoorDash, a $40 billion third-party delivery service, is acquiring SevenRooms, a customer relationship management business. This deal aims to create a comprehensive platform, akin to Amazon Prime's all-in-one service, and raises concerns over data control and restaurant brand commoditization. Experts like Toby W. Malbec from Church’s Texas Chicken and Robert Peterson from Oracle Restaurants discuss possible benefits and warn of potential threats, such as the misuse of aggregated customer data by DoorDash. Restaurants are advised to audit their tech stacks, read contracts carefully, maintain system flexibility, and demand open APIs to protect their customer relationships.

💰 In London, on May 12, 2025, eviivo enhanced its integration with PayPal, allowing hospitality businesses to offer flexible payments and reduce transaction failures, potentially increasing transaction completion by 62%. The integration includes PayPal's Advanced Checkout and Payment Manager, offering various payment options like Buy Now Pay Later, card processing, and mobile payments. Security features include AI-powered fraud detection and PayPal Seller Protection. Eviivo, serving over 28,000 hospitality businesses, simplifies property management and guest engagement.

🏨 Chris Guimbellot, president & CEO of hihotels, highlighted the Advisory Council's impact since its 2023 establishment at AAHOA's meeting in New Orleans. The council, featuring owners from three hihotels brands, Sabre Hospitality Solutions executives, and Guimbellot, meets quarterly via videoconference to optimize franchisee operations and strategies. They've implemented programs like Best of the Best, rewarding quality and guest satisfaction; WhatsApp groups for efficient communication; and HighHub, an educational and operational portal. These initiatives balance franchisee independence with brand evolution, without enforcing stringent standards.

🚧 Louvre Hotels Group, with over 1,700 hotels globally, has chosen RobosizeME to automate voucher reconciliation, a task previously consuming hundreds of hours a month. In Prague, on 12 May 2025, this partnership was announced, aimed at enhancing efficiency and accuracy by reducing manual work and human error. François Couturier of Louvre Hotels Group highlights the shift of team efforts to strategic activities, while RobosizeME CEO Stephen Burke emphasizes the impact of AI and automation in hospitality. RobosizeME offers AI-driven automation solutions for the hotel industry with a focus on reservation, finance, distribution, and front office workflows, boasting certifications like ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance.