As restaurants continue their mission to bring customers back, more creative and aggressive marketing campaigns continue to emerge. 

Modern Market Eatery has grown from a 2009 startup in Boulder, Colo., to a 29-store chain that now franchises.

Spaceman USA will acquire BDE Innovation, a provider of Internet of Things (IoT) and dispense technologies.

Takeout and delivery dominated the foodservice industry last year, thanks to the pandemic.

The answer would have been vastly different nine months ago; the coronavirus gave birth to a new restaurant era.

AutoQuotes has acquired Axonom, a technical company that provides guided selling, visual configuration, spatial planning and VR/AR solutions.

Pivoting. New normal. Off-premises. Contactless. Virtual. Digital. These key words continue to dominate our restaurant-related conversations, as they have since March. And they aren’t going away any time soon.

Digital represents a fast-evolving aspect of any business and that includes the selling of foodservice equipment and supplies. In the digital arena, relevancy requires a willingness to admit what’s working well and what’s not, listening to customers and the ability to adapt and evolve. Such is the case with The Kitchen Spot, a digital platform that PRIDE Centric Resources relaunched as a way to connect its dealer members with restaurant and foodservice operators.

In an effort to tap into the city’s high-tech talent pool, AutoQuotes opened a new corporate office in Atlanta.

When Jon Taffer, the award-winning hospitality expert and host of the popular TV show “Bar Rescue,” decided to open his own restaurant and bar, Taffer’s Tavern, his team enlisted some of the latest technologies in terms of software and kitchen equipment to develop a craft cocktail and chef-driven concept.

G2 —short for Grains & Greens —is the 2020 winner of the Foodservice Pioneering Concept competition presented by HX: The Hotel Experience. The winning G2 concept touches on many elements that connect with current trends, including creating a touchless experience and offering locally sourced ingredients.

Robots have not taken over the foodservice operating sector as quickly as some once thought, but the innovations and integration continue to expand in myriad ways.

Simulations are all around us.

There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every facet of foodservice. Trends like delivery and ghost kitchens, which were already on the rise, accelerated in response to dining room closures across the country.

All restaurants should regularly visualize what their store of the future (SOF) will look like. An exercise of this nature is important in the best of times. In light of the impact the coronavirus continues to have on this industry, it’s never been more important than it is today, especially with an ever-changing future.

The ability to innovate and push technology in the restaurant industry has always been an option. Many times, though, restaurant operators delay implementing certain technologies out of fear of going too far ahead of what the customers will accept. COVID-19 has forced the industry to be open to and accepting of many ideas that may have not even had a chance just a few months back or may have taken much longer to evolve and become mainstream during normal times.

KCL has plans to expand its business outside of the Americas. Luca Salomoni will now represent KCL and its product lines in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. KCL provides an array of software products that aid in the foodservice design process, including consolidating equipment symbol libraries and specifications in one location.

Noncommercial operators find success integrating retail components.

Despite how costly it can be to implement and master, Building Information Modeling is becoming more and more of a factor in the foodservice design community due to the undeniable portfolio of benefits it offers operators and building managers.

Some tips for getting started with building information modeling and REVIT in foodservice design. 

Revit is a form of building information management software that is slowly starting to take root in the foodservice industry. While certain members of the foodservice equipment supply chain, namely consultants and manufacturers, are more involved with Revit than others at this point, in the not-so-distant future most every member of the foodservice industry will need to be proficient with this new technology.

The introduction of Revit to the foodservice industry has drawn some natural comparisons to other computer-driven tools, namely AutoCAD. These tools are similar in that both allow foodservice designers to use a computer to develop detailed kitchen drawings, and upon their introduction to the foodservice communities both were perceived as relatively new technologies that required training.

iPads and tablets are taking restaurants by storm and improving efficiencies

New solutions allow proprietors to remotely manage their restaurant from a special tablet computer.

Foodservice technologies provide a glimpse of what's important to the industry today and a look at the focal points of tomorrow.

iPhones and iPads. Tablets and tools. Digital technologies have gone well beyond the boundaries of kitchen or equipment operations — they're the basis for more convenient ordering, both online and in-store. Technology, when it comes to the field of customer-interfacing, has advanced. Let's face it: the touch screen is the new black.

Is social networking valuable to campus dining? For today's high school and college students, social networking is a very important facet of everyday life. This instantaneous connection with friends new and old provides a lifeline of existence. But it can also have an impact on how labor is deployed and the operation's ability to drive some last-minute foot traffic.

From iPads to combi ovens to high-tech ice machines, there seems to be no shortage of technological innovations available to foodservice operators today. The challenge is sifting through all the promise the various forms of technology offer to find a solution that will enhance the customer experience and provide a positive return on the foodservice operation's investment.

Next month, all eyes in the foodservice equipment and supplies space will be on Orlando, Fla., thanks to the biennial NAFEM Show. This event will be all about the products and the innovative ways we, as foodservice professionals, use them. While the show does a wonderful job of shining a spotlight on foodservice technology, other market factors, such as the new healthcare legislation and the never-ending drive to enhance productivity, continue to increase awareness in this area.

The notion of designing a smart kitchen is not a new one. What is new, though, is how the evolution of foodservice technology affects the way the industry defines a smart kitchen today.