Exploring AI’s potential. More retailers turn to foodservice to drive foot traffic. The role of promotions in driving foodservice business. A new company is poised to enter the dessert equipment business, while another company updates its parts and service segment. These stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

Why is AI-driven culinary innovation such a hot trend heading into 2026?

This technology allows food and beverage companies, including foodservice operators, to create more personalized, on-trend products faster than ever, per a Tenacious Plate blog post from The Food Group. AI can even identify food trends before they become mainstream, the blog post added.

While AI offers many benefits, some things will remain the same. “AI is not a shortcut to creativity, nor is it a substitute for experience, instinct, or taste. Instead, it functions as a powerful extension of a chef’s existing skill set,” said Chef Michael Buononato, the senior vice president of culinary at The Food Group. “It can analyze massive datasets — consumer preferences, flavor pairings, ingredient functionality, cultural trends—at a scale no individual could manage alone.”

There’s no denying the promise AI offers, but for it to transform an enterprise, it must move beyond “tool adoption” toward intentional redesign, as The Conference Board points out in this LinkedIn article.

Foodservice News

• More retailers continue to turn to foodservice as a tool to drive foot traffic. The latest examples from Japanese apparel company Uniqlo, which opened its first U.S. coffee bar in March of 2025, per a CNBC story. Uniqlo has a total of nine cafes worldwide. Luxury retailers following a similar approach include fashion house Louis Vuitton, which has locations in both New York City and Dallas. And Tiffany, which opened a Blue Box Café. And, of course, there’s Ralph Lauren, which has added coffee shops to come locations, and Restoration Hardware, with its RH Cafes.
• Can execution win over speed? In fact, some industry observers believe that is exactly what’s happening in the pizza market as some mid-size performers start to gain ground on the bigger chains, as this analysis from The Food Institute points out. Yes, speed remains an important factor for consumers but perhaps customers are starting to show a slight willingness to compromise a bit.
• Don’t be surprised to see promotions remaining a key ingredient in restaurants’ success in 2026. Data from Placer.ai showed that for many limited-service restaurants, promotions such as a discount or giveaway led to their busiest week of the year in 2025. For example, Dairy Queen offered a free cone on March 20, 2025, and for that week it realized a 60.8% bump in customer traffic. Dave’s Hot Chicken offered a free slider the week of October 20, 2025, and saw traffic increase 30.1% for the period.
• This summer QuikTrip will roll out a new design that will highlight the c-store chain’s foodservice program, per a C-Store Dive story. QuikTrip’s GEN4 store design will feature a kitchen that’s twice the size of one of its standard locations and includes an area for “quick food order pickup.” QuikTrip’s foodservice program features made-to-order and grab-and-go offerings like burritos, pizza, sandwiches, and frozen beverages.
• A new player is about to enter the dessert equipment segment. Cremmjoy completed a multi-million dollar Series A preferred stock fundraising round and moved into new headquarters in Baton Rouge, La. Cremmjoy is now advancing its 3rd generation prototype machines and will be conducting field trials over the next year in test kitchens across the country. The company plans to have its first machines on the market in 2027.
• Polar King International restructured its parts and service operations. The move brings team members from Polar King, Polar Leasing Company, and Thermodyne Foodservice Products together under one unified service and parts group. Max Tippmann will manage the expanded service and parts team, transitioning from his role as leader of the refrigeration department. Polar King said this approach will allow for “increased cross-training, additional backup coverage and faster response times.
• Salad and Go closed 32 units, per a Fast Company story. This includes 25 in Texas and seven in Oklahoma. The company also plans to close its Dallas headquarters and will relocate to Phoenix.
• Compass Coffee has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, per multiple published reports, including this one from Daily Coffee News. In doing so, the chain seeks to restructure its debts, pare back leases, and stabilize operations while keeping its cafes open. The Washington, D.C.-based chain has 25 units.
• The National Restaurant Association has released a resource to help operators navigate utility disruptions. The guide, entitled “Always Ready: Utility Disruptions,” outlines steps restaurant operators can take to prepare for and recover from a utility outage as well as the steps to take during an outage. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that electrical outages alone cost American businesses around $150 billion per year.

Economic News

• The global economy will grow by 2.7% in 2026, per a forecast from the United Nations. This is slightly less than the 2.8% the U.N. estimated for 2025, per an Associated Press story. The U.N. says higher U.S. tariffs, economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions are to blame. That said, U.N. economists project growth will increase to 2.9% in 2027.
• Consumer sentiment improved slightly in January. The University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment came in at 54.0, which is 2.1% greater than the previous month. And this represents the highest consumer sentiment since September, per a Yahoo! Finance story. Unfortunately, consumer sentiment is also down 24.7% compared to January of 2024. “Improvements in January were seen among lower-income consumers, while sentiment fell for those with higher incomes,” said Joanne Hsu, the University of Michigan’s surveys of consumers director. “They continue to be focused primarily on kitchen table issues, like high prices and softening labor markets. Although consumers’ worries about tariffs appear to be gradually receding, they remain guarded about the overall strength of business conditions and labor markets.”
• The U.S. economy added 50,000 jobs in December, per data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is less than the 73,000 jobs Dow Jones had projected for the month, per an NBC News story. In contrast, the unemployment rate came in at 4.4%, which is 0.1% less than projections. Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, and social assistance. Retail trade lost jobs. For the full year, job gains averaged 49,000 per month compared to 168,000 per month in 2024, the BLS added. The key takeaway from this report: companies remain slow to both hire and fire.
• Private employers added 41,000 jobs in December, per the ADP National Employment Report. This reversed the 29,000 jobs lost in November but was less than 48,000 jobs economists had projected employers would add, per a CNBC story. Education/health services led the way by adding 39,000 positions, followed by the leisure and hospitality segment, which added 24,000 positions. These gains were offset by steep losses in several segments, including professional/business services (-29,000) and information (-12,000), among others.