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Food Network's cooking instruction service lets you ask Alexa for help
Discovery wants to be your one-stop shop for cooking classes, and it's enlisting Amazon's help to make that happen. The broadcaster has unveiled a Food Network Kitchen service that offers a mix of live classes from celebrity chefs, on-demand classes, TV shows and recipes. It'll be available on a raft of Amazon devices (including Echo Show and Fire TV gear) in addition to the virtually obligatory Android and iOS apps, but the real attraction may be the deep tie-ins with Alexa -- Food Network Kitchen may effectively become the go-to option for cooking on Alexa-equipped devices.
Amazon-owned Whole Foods cuts medical benefits for part-time workers
Not all is well with Whole Foods in the Amazon era. The grocery chain has confirmed to Business Insider that it's cutting medical benefits for part-time staff who work a minimum of 20 hours per week. A spokesperson said Whole Foods was dropping the benefits as part of a move to a single part-time work structure that "better meet the needs of our business and create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model." The change takes effect January 1st, 2020, and is expected to affect roughly 1,900 workers, or just short of 2 percent of the total workforce.
Pepsi's loyalty program puts cash in your Venmo account
Do you wish soft drink makers would stop using point systems for reward programs and simply give you cold, hard cash? You're about to get your wish... in a manner of speaking. Pepsi is launching a PepCoin loyalty program that rewards you for buying both a single-serve beverage and a Frito-Lay snack by sending money to PayPal and Venmo accounts. If you scan enough codes on bottles and bags, you'll receive a little bit of cash. You'll have to earn $2 before it goes to your account, but this is real spending money -- you can use it to pay your share of last night's pizza.
KFC's plant-based 'chicken' sold out in five hours
There's little doubt that plant-based meat substitutes have been popular, but when's the last time they triggered the kind of frenzies associated with movie aficionados and sneaker hypebeasts? Today, apparently. Beyond Meat and KFC have revealed that their Beyond Fried Chicken test in Atlanta sold out in less than five hours on August 27th, with lines "wrapped around the restaurant" from the moment the store opened. Restaurants only have so much food to go around in general, but this was apparently no mean feat -- KFC sold as much of the meatless 'chicken' as it typically sells popcorn chicken in a week.
Panera Bread now delivers through DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats
Panera Bread can't resist the siren's call of offering food through third-party delivery apps. The restaurant chain has made its delivery service available outside of its own apps for the first time, offering its menu through DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats. Don't expect to see someone from those services at your door, though. Panera's own couriers will fulfill orders in "most markets," so you could still see familiar faces if you're used to having your Toasted Frontega Chicken sandwiches delivered.
KFC is testing Beyond Meat 'chicken' in an Atlanta restaurant
Plant-based meat substitutes may soon be an option for fast food chicken. CNBC reports that KFC will start testing Beyond Fried Chicken at an Atlanta restaurant on August 27th. Yes, you could grab a bucket of chicken without feeling quite so guilty -- or greasy, if Beyond Meat's earlier work is any indication. Whether or not availability grows will depend on feedback, but other restaurant chains (such as Del Taco) have seen upticks in demand since adding meat substitutes.
June promises to fix smart ovens that are preheating accidentally
As convenient as smart ovens can be, they also introduce their own hassles -- namely, technical hiccups. June plans to update the software for its signature oven after multiple reports of the devices accidentally preheating overnight. CEO Matt Van Horn attributed them to user errors, such as forgetting to remove food, tapping a button by accident or inadvertently issuing an Alexa command. The company isn't taking chances, mind you, and has both immediate and long-term fixes in the works.
WW, formerly Weight Watchers, launches a weight loss app for kids
Last February, Weight Watchers drew criticism when it announced a free weight-loss program for teens ages 13 to 17. Skeptics feared the program would encourage obsessive eating habits in adolescents, but Weight Watchers -- since rebranded WW -- isn't backing down. Instead, it launched a free weight loss app for adolescents, Kurbo by WW.
Domino's will use e-bikes to deliver pizzas across the US
Domino's Pizza is once again adopting cutting edge delivery vehicles, although you're much more likely to see these ones in action. In the wake of successful tests, the restaurant chain is launching a US-wide e-bike delivery program that will give stores the choice of using custom Rad Power e-bikes to carry pizza. They're typical electric two-wheelers at their heart with motors that assist pedaling for 25 to 40 miles on a charge with a 20MPH top speed, but they also include front and rear insulated cargo spaces that hold a combined 12 large pizzas. A delivery person could make several stops before having to cycle back to home base.
Beyond Meat comes to Subway in the form of a meatball
Beyond Meat didn't take long to respond to Impossible Foods' Burger King deal. Subway has announced that it will test a sub with plant-based meat, the Beyond Meatball Marinara, in 685 North American restaurants this September. It's far from vegan when it includes parmesan and provolone cheese, but it should hit the spot if you're only looking for a meat substitute -- a 6-inch sub will include a hefty 24g of protein.
GrubHub is quietly replacing restaurant phone numbers on Yelp
GrubHub has once again been accused of hijacking restaurants' online presences in the name of revenue. Motherboard and the Underunderstood podcast have learned that some phone listings in the Yelp app have been replaced with GrubHub numbers so that the delivery service can collect a "referral fee" from resulting orders. You may get the restaurant's actual phone number if you tap the call button for "general questions," for instance, but an entirely different GrubHub-owned number if you tap "delivery or takeout."
Grubhub and Seamless will deliver Shake Shack across the US
Sometime soon, you won't necessarily need to wait until the buzzer in your hand goes off to know when your food is ready at Shake Shack. The popular burger chain is teaming up with Grubhub for nationwide delivery across the US.
Pizza Hut tests Amazon Locker-style 'cubbies' for carryout orders
It's not always as quick as you might like to pick up a pizza on the way home, but Pizza Hut might have a solution: borrow a page from the online shopping world. Its Hollywood restaurant (6660 Sunset Boulevard) has started testing Amazon Locker-like "cubbies" for carryout orders purchased through any method. Each cubby includes a display that shows your partial name as well as a lining that keeps your food hot and your drinks cold. You won't have to wait for someone at the counter -- once you've paid, you just double-tap the screen and grab your meal.
McDonald's ends UberEats delivery exclusive by adding DoorDash
If you suddenly have an urge for McDonald's at home, you won't need to go through UberEats to get it. The fast food chain has expanded its delivery options to include DoorDash. The rollout will start in Houston, where the courier option will be available in over 200 restaurants starting on July 29th. McDonald's will also be part of the DashPass subscription service, so you won't have to pay extra for delivery if you regularly get your Big Mac fixes at home.
T-Mobile hopes to reel you in with free Taco Bell at its stores
T-Mobile has a simple way to draw you into its stores: it's straight-up bribing you with free food. The carrier is partnering with Taco Bell on "T-MoBell" (yes, we know) pop-up stores at signature T-Mobile locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City between July 23rd and July 25th. Anyone who attends will get free tacos, special T-MoBell Freeze drinks (aka white cherry) and branded merch like socks and stick-on phone wallets. The two are even courting celebrity chasers with promises of "special guests" at each location, such as The Bachelor's Colton Underwood in Chicago.
This pea-based chicken alternative was inspired by hagfish slime
Another company wants to get in on the animal-free meat trend. The Swiss company Planted hopes to do for chicken what Impossible Foods did for beef. It claims its planted.chicken -- made from pea protein, pea fiber, water and sunflower oil -- is indistinguishable from the real thing, and as a meat alternative, it avoids some of the ethical and environmental concerns that come with raising poultry.
7-Eleven can deliver your Slurpees to parks and beaches
7-Eleven has a way for its 7Now deliveries to stand out from the herd: let you order in all kinds of public spaces. An update to its 7Now app for iOS lets you ask for delivery to "pins," or commonly accessible locations like parks, beaches, concert venues and other spaces where an address isn't an option. This doesn't mean you can order from absolutely anywhere, but it's far more convenient if you're feeling like some Slurpees on a hot summer's day.
Hold the phone: Chevy owners can order Domino's with their car
You now have the chance to order pizza from your car's touchscreen. Chevy has added Domino's ordering to its Marketplace, making it the first company to offer pizza orders directly from your car's dash -- no smartphone app required. It's not a particularly complicated app when you're limited to an Easy Order (read: a favorite), one of your recents or tracking your pie's progress, but it could save valuable time if you're craving a few slices as soon as you get home. You can order for pickup if delivery is just too slow.
McCormick's concept grill plays music based on what you're cooking
As someone who won't turn down an invite to a barbecue, the one thing missing in my life is a grill. That's the part about living in New York City that saddens me. So, when McCormick invited me to check out its new concept grill, the SUMR HITS 5000, you know I couldn't say no. Much to my disappointment, because the event was indoors, there wasn't any actual grilling involved. Still, it was a good opportunity to see the SUMR HITS 5000 in person, which features a built-in DJ station that can play music based on what you're cooking. The grill uses a mix of capacitive touch sensors, computer vision and machine learning to do this, and McCormick says it custom developed the hardware and software to show how to "combine the fun of music and act of grilling together."
MIT is turning AI into a pizza chef
Never mind having robots deliver pizza -- if MIT and QCRI researchers have their way, the automatons will make your pizza as well. They've developed a neural network, PizzaGAN (Generative Adversarial Network), that learns how to make pizza using pictures. After training on thousands of synthetic and real pizza pictures, the AI knows not only how to identify individual toppings, but how to distinguish their layers and the order in which they need to appear. From there, the system can create step-by-step guides for making pizza using only one example photo as the starting point.
