Innovation

🤖 Kura Sushi utilizes a robotic arm to ensure compliance and reduce human error, maintaining disposal rates at 3%. Their growth exceeds 20% annually due to automation, which also reduces staffing needs to 60-70 employees per location, compared to typical restaurants with 80-100. Revenue averages $4 million. The Bikkura Pon Prize System gamifies dining by rewarding guests with a prize after depositing 15 plates. Collaborations with gaming brands for promotions have included Nintendo. Drink robots introduced in 2019 enhance service and the brand's fun, tech-forward image.

🍴 In 2024, Starbucks experienced a mid-teens percent order incompletion rate in their Mobile Order & Pay channel due to long wait times and product unavailability. Steak n Shake implemented PopID's biometric check-in and checkout system for enhanced customer experience. Hospitality Technology announced the 2024 Top Women and Rising Stars in Restaurant Technology, highlighting tech innovation from Jersey Mike's to Pizza Factory. Robotics and AI were key topics at the National Retail Federation's Big Show. Southern Classic Chicken discussed new drive-thru tech plans in HT Talks Tech. POS software vendors shared their 2024 plans, following 2023 achievements. The 2024 Customer Engagement Technology Study by HT revealed how technology fosters customer loyalty. The 2024 POS Software Trends Study showed the importance of integration and adaptation in POS systems. The 26th annual Restaurant Technology Study by HT highlighted the use of human-digital hybrid solutions to address industry challenges.

📈 Kevin Bentley, Head of Technology at Jollibee Foods Corporation, with over 20 years of experience, will speak at MURTEC 2025 on "Personalizing the Guest Experience." Bentley's background includes marketing technology at Johnson & Johnson and automation at Inspire Brands. Discussion points include improving service time, streamlining operations, leveraging technology, and reducing labor costs. Attendees can register for MURTEC 2025, "Experience Matters," at MURTEC.com.

📅 Global business travel industry projected to exceed $2 trillion by 2028. 💰 Black Box Technologies reveals 100% of corporate travel buyers demand urgent action on fragmentation. ✅ To combat inefficiencies, TMCs embrace AI, automation, and machine learning for optimized productivity. 🚀 Gen A expectations include consumer-grade, personalized solutions as they join the workforce in three years. 📍 Sammit Khanndeparkar of London Stock Exchange underscores TMCs' strategic partnership role. ✍ TMCs focus on ROI, with AI-powered platforms and collaboration to reduce fragmentation and align with future demands.

💻 In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, fewer companies see legacy technology as a barrier to digitalization in 2024 (23%) compared to 2022 (33%), per Eaton's study. This change is attributed to advances in AI and ML. Demand for data centres is rising due to AI, with 42.3% upgrading facilities, 38.6% expanding capacity, and 32.8% improving IT performance. Utilities expect up to 49% more grid capacity needs in the next decade. Manufacturers view AI as key for ESG goals (66%) and energy optimization (55%). Large building owners (54%) plan to install management systems within a year to optimize energy use. Eaton's Brightlayer software aids businesses in digital transformation through AI, ML, and big data.

💰 Qi, in partnership with Ant International, launched SuperQi in July 2024, aiming to digitize financial services in Iraq. SuperQi has 11 million cardholders and 5 million mobile app users, targeting over 15 million users by 2027. It offers a digital lifestyle super app and integrated digital bank, available in Arabic, English, and Kurdish. The platform has over 20,000 POS merchants, 10,000 cash-out agents, and projects to engage over 30% of Iraq's population by 2026. Qi's efforts have increased the banked rate from 5% to nearly 50%.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News since 1999 and Restaurant Hospitality since 2016, covers food and beverage trends and hosts the "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast. He wrote for The New York Sun (2005-2008), spent five years in Thailand writing for Manager magazine and Asia Times, and graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University. Thorn was in Beijing during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, won a Neal Award in 2006, and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Contact him at [email protected]