In this special edition of our 5 Things series, Food Management highlights five recent technology-related developments that are impacting the world of foodservice.
Today’s list is:
1. Food delivery robot at center of bombing in Oregon
A suspect has been arrested after Oregon State University reported a bomb threat related to its robotic feeding system. The robot was isolated in a safe location and examined by technicians, who found no explosives, according to a news release.
The news comes as a growing number of universities are introducing automated meal delivery on campus, with State University of New York Polytechnic and the University of Akron in Ohio among the latest.
Read more: One person arrested after food delivery robot bomb threat at Oregon State University
2. UCSD’s Just Walk Out store raises student concerns
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) renovated Sixth, Seventh, and Rogers Markets using Amazon’s JustWalkOut technology to enable faster checkout. However, some students have voiced concerns about the capabilities of this new technology.
Read more: Focus on new markets
3. Sugar substitute breakthrough at UC Davis
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with the Mars Institute for Advanced Study, have announced significant advances in the production of low-calorie sugar substitutes such as allulose. This could help address one of the main obstacles to widespread adoption. Among these options, production costs. Allulose (also known as D-psicose) is a naturally occurring rare sugar with similar taste, texture, and functionality to sucrose (table sugar), making it a viable alternative and reducing sugar intake. This makes it an attractive option for those who want to do so.
Read more: UC Davis Mars researchers discover scalable production technology for low-calorie sugar substitute
4. UK’s Sodexo school meal pre-ordering system wins technology award
Sodexo has won the Best Technology award at the UK Foodservice Cateys 2023 competition for its School Food United (SFU) pre-ordering and payment platform for families and students across 140 UK school contracts. Currently, 23,000 parents have registered to use the app, with over 14,000 downloads and 30,000 students using the system. Since launching in 2021, more than 2.8 million meals have been ordered through SFU, with 260,000 meals served each month and a 20% increase in meals for each school.
Read more: Foodservice Cateys 2023: Best Use of Technology Award – Sodexo Pre-Order and Payment Platform
5. A robot makes salads at Sweetgreen Restaurant in Illinois
It turns out that robots can make decent chefs. Just ask salad chain Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen is testing automation for some of its cooking to reduce customer wait times and reduce labor costs. At Sweetgreen’s Infinite Kitchen restaurant in Naperville, Illinois, its own robots do most of the work, rather than human salad chefs.
Read more: Restaurant chain Sweetgreen uses robots to make salads
Bonus: Students are excited about vending machine meal delivery
Please contact Mike Buzalka. [email protected]
