Will selling more food lead to increased beverage sales? Which private equity firm added another chain to its portfolio? These stories and more This Week in Foodservice. 

Can AI help with food waste? A Hilton pilot program aims to find out.

The hotel giant has deployed a food waste tracking system at roughly 200 hotels that uses AI powered smart bins, per a Daily Mirror story. The bins feature cameras and scales that track what food customers discard, including the type and quantity.

Kitchen staff can view the data in real time and the system compiles a detailed report on food waste the next day. This allows culinary staff to identify problem areas and allows operators to adjust portion sizes and more. 

Foodservice News

• Cracker Barrel is in the midst of a multi-step back-of-the-house optimization initiative. The first phase focuses on process simplification to improve product quality and profitability, per a FSR Magazine story. The second phase will focus on the deployment of pre-chopped and pre-sliced ingredients to reduce prep time in the kitchen. The third phase will focus on bringing in equipment solutions. The search for efficiencies comes at a good time for Cracker Barrel as the casual dining chain said it tariffs to impact it’s fourth quarter EBIDTA by $5 million. The good news is that Cracker Barrel’s third quarter results exceeded expectations.
• Private equity firm Savory Fund has added to its restaurant portfolio through the purchase of Bonrue Bakery. A European-style patisserie, Bonrue Bakery is known for its artisanal pastries, savory lunch offerings and artisan coffee. It has three locations in Utah, per its website. Other restaurant concepts owned by Savory Fund include Swig, Mo’ Betthas and South Block.
• BradyPLUS has acquired Biloxi Paper Company. Biloxi distributes janitorial and sanitation supplies, as well as foodservice disposables to customers in a variety of segments, including foodservice, education, gaming, and hospitality.
• Dutch Brothers hopes selling more food can lead to selling more drinks. Per a Restaurant Business report, the Oregon-based coffee chain is testing the impact of increasing its food menu to eight items from four. The chain is taking a deliberate approach to the test going from eight stores to start to 32 now. Dutch Brothers, which does not want to compromise its operations, is taking a deliberate approach to this potential expansion and does not expect the broader menu to be available systemwide until next year.
• Hooters continues to feather its nest for a sale to its franchisees. Part of that effort includes the closing of some stores owned by parent company Hooters of America. This was part of the restructuring plan, per a release from all involved parties. The expectation is that approximately 200 domestic Hooters restaurants and 60 international Hooters restaurants will remain open as of August 2025, the anticipated closing date for the sale. These restaurants will represent $700 million in systemwide sales. Upon closing of the transaction, the Buyer Group anticipates operating approximately 130 Hooters restaurants, or approximately 65% of the domestic Hooters locations.
• A Middleby Innovation Kitchen is now operational in Munich, Germany. For the multiline and multinational manufacturer, this is its third innovation kitchen in Europe. The Munich MIK also serves as the new hub for Middleby Germany, the company’s latest regional subsidiary that will focus on serving the German, Austrian, Czech, and Swiss markets.
• Market research firm Mintel has acquired Black Swan Data, an AI-native company specializing in analyzing and predicting trends from social media. The combined datasets enable expanded predictive capabilities, accelerate innovation timelines, and allow clients to forecast trends with greater accuracy and confidence.

Economic News

• The outlook among small business owners improved in May. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index came in at 98.8, which is three points more than the previous month and slightly better than its 51-year average of 98.0. Expected business conditions and sales expectations contributed the most to the rise in the index, per the NFIB. Despite these positive points, the study’s Uncertainty Index rose two points for the month.
• Labor productivity decreased more than previously thought during the first quarter of 2025. In its initial estimate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 0.8% decrease in productivity for the first quarter but revised that to a 5% decline. Economists had projected the updated productivity numbers to show only a 0.7% decline, per a NASDAQ article. Regardless, this marks the first decline in labor productivity since the second quarter of 2022.
• U.S. employers added 139,000 jobs in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. While this beat forecasts that called for adding 120,000 positions for the month, it was less than April’s total of 147,000 jobs added, per a story from NBC. The BLS data also showed the federal government shed 22,000 positions in May and is down 59,000 roles since January. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%. Employment continued to trend up in healthcare, leisure and hospitality and social assistance. However, the federal government continued to lose jobs.
• Private sector employers added 37,000 jobs in May, per the ADP National Employment Report. This is the lowest number of jobs added in two years and was 60,000 less than April, per a CNBC story. Economists polled by Dow Jones had projected employers would add 110,000 jobs in April. Leisure/hospitality businesses added 38,000 positions for the month, by far the most of any segment.
• Consumer credit increased 4.3% in April, per the U.S. Federal Reserve. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 7%, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 3.3%. The sharp increase of credit card debt was a stark contrast to earlier in the year when consumers appeared to be focusing on paying down debt, per various published reports, including this one from PYMNTS.com.
• Economic activity in the services sector contracted in May, the first time since June 2024, per the Services ISM Report On Business. The Services PMI came in at 49.9%, which is less than the 50% breakeven point. This is only the fourth time in 60 months the Services PMI has come in at less than 50 since recovery from the coronavirus pandemic-induced recession began in June 2020, per ISM.