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What's it like cooking your own Impossible Burger?
Since its debut three years ago, the only way to consume the Impossible Burger has been to find a restaurant that serves it. Over the years, Impossible has expanded its footprint from high-end joints in New York and San Francisco to nationwide fast-food establishments like White Castle and Burger King. Beginning today, however, it's available in grocery stores too, starting with Gelson's Markets in Southern California. I decided to try it out for myself, and compare it to a rival vegan meat product as well.
Impossible Burger makes its grocery store debut in Southern California
Impossible Burger will soon be available at your local grocer. The company announced that starting on September 20th its plant burgers will be available at Gelson's Markets in Southern California, marking the first time customers can buy them in grocery stores. The burgers will be available in other grocery store chains in the state later this month, just as the brand makes its debut in East Coast grocery stores. Eventually, Impossible Burger plans to be available in grocery stores in every region nationwide by mid-2020.
The Keurig of cocktails is expanding sales to California
What if whipping up a Moscow Mule or an Old Fashioned was as easy as popping a coffee pod into a Keurig machine? Cocktail bartenders and other libations experts would likely turn up their nose at such an idea. Still, Keurig Dr. Pepper and Anheuser-Busch have seen enough success with sales of their Drinkworks Home Bar in Florida and Missouri to begin expanding. Beginning on September 30th, the automated cocktail machine will be available in California.
India effectively bans e-cigarettes
India just became among the first countries to effectively ban vaping. On Wednesday, the country banned the sale, import, advertising and production of e-cigarettes. First-time offenders face up to a year in prison and $1,400 fine, while repeat offenders face the prospect of a three-year sentence and $7,000 fine. It's still technically legal to smoke an e-cigarette in India, but for obvious reasons finding a legal supply of nicotine to smoke will be difficult.
Chinese retailers abruptly stop selling Juul e-cigarettes
It appears Juul's fortunes are about to get even worse. Bloomberg reports retailers in China have pulled the company's products just one week after they became available within the country. Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the publication says Juul wasn't told why its e-cigarettes and nicotine pods were removed from both physical and online stores, making it unclear whether the ongoing trade war between the US and China was a factor.
You can now order Postmates at Yankee Stadium
The days of gnawing on rubbery hot dogs or peanuts during a baseball game are long over. From Fenway Park to Camden Yards, most MLB stadiums are packed with a wide range of food options. But for the Yankees fan with a craving for something different, Postmates today has announced an exclusive partnership with Yankee Stadium. The food delivery app already has a similar partnership in place with the Dodger Stadium.
New York state bans sales of flavored e-cigarettes
New York isn't waiting for the federal government to take action on teen vaping. Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced an "emergency executive action" that will ban sales of flavored e-cigarettes. The move will see the state Department of Health's Commissioner hold an urgent meeting with the Public Health and Health Planning Council to implement the ban. E-cig makers and stores are "intentionally and recklessly" trying to court a younger audience, Cuomo claimed, and this would theoretically put a stop to the behavior.
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.
Walmart takes its $98 Delivery Unlimited service nationwide
Walmart began trialling its Delivery Unlimited service -- its grocery-based take on Amazon Prime -- at select locations earlier this year. Now, the company is rolling it out to a further 1,400 stores across all 200 metro areas where regular grocery delivery is already available. Walmart aims to have more than 50 percent of the country covered by the end of the year.
McDonald’s plans to bring AI voice technology to its drive-thrus
Fast food is about to get even faster. McDonald announced today that it is buying the voice tech startup Apprente so it can automate its drive-thru menu. The Mountain View-based company specializes in building voice-based agents that can take orders in multiple languages and accents. The fast food giant has been testing Apprente's technology in several locations and expects it will allow for "faster, simpler and more accurate order taking" at its drive-thrus.
Starship's delivery robots now serve Purdue University
Starship's delivery robots have reached their largest school campus yet. Purdue students at the university's West Lafayette campus now have the option of ordering robot-delivered food that should arrive in "minutes." As at other schools, deliveries carry a flat $2 fee and work in tandem with your student meal plan. If you're too busy studying to traipse across the university grounds and don't want to spend much more than you're already paying for food, your solution might be at hand.
GrubHub launches Perks tab for food discounts
GrubHub's most frugal consumers will have to look no further than the food delivery app's new "Perks" tab. The company announced today that it is combining two features -- coupons and discounts on meals and restaurant-specific loyalty programs -- all under one tab. In short, diners will no longer have to keep track of point cards and other restaurant discounts. Instead, GrubHub will do the coupon clipping for them. "Restaurants have always used free food as a perk for their VIP diners -- to keep them happy and coming back. We have now extended this practice to Grubhub diners by building loyalty tools so our restaurant partners can promote their restaurants more aggressively on our marketplace and reward their best digital diners as well," said Matt Maloney, Grubhub founder and CEO.
LG's smart fridge also makes crystal-clear ice for cocktails
No $14 cocktail would be complete without those baseball-sized ice spheres that can chill your drink without diluting it beyond recognition. LG has unveiled a WiFi-enabled smart fridge that can turn your boring kitchen into your neighborhood speakeasy. The Smart WiFi Enabled InstaView door-in-door refrigerator has the ability to make craft ice. You can whip up a whole batch of the ice spheres instantly. You won't have to freeze them one at a time using molds, or wait for hours.
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.
Yelp adds personalized search results to its iPhone app
For good or ill, it's common for internet services to track what you do and offer "personalized" suggestions. But Yelp, that stalwart of internet reviews, is for the first time letting its users build a profile of their tastes which will be used to make better recommendations. Those preferences will be weaved throughout the Yelp experience going forward, starting with the iPhone app. It's rather surprising that Yelp's results weren't more customized yet, but now the company says two users in the same location conducting the same search will see different results for the first time. Recommendations that pop on the home screen will also reflect your personal preferences, as well.
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.
DoorDash finally makes sure delivery drivers get your tips
DoorDash drivers will earn 100 percent of tips under a revamped set of rules on pay. The delivery service today announced a new tipping and earnings policy that it claims will lead to drivers earning more on average. The development comes more than a month after news reports exposed the company for pocketing its driver's tips. In response to the widespread backlash, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu promised it would reevaluate how it pays its workers.
AmazonFresh grocery delivery expands to Houston, Minneapolis and Phoenix
AmazonFresh, one of two grocery delivery services Amazon offers in the US, is expanding to three new cities. Starting today, residents in Houston, Minneapolis and Phoenix can get groceries delivered to their homes from Amazon in two hours or less. To access AmazonFresh, you'll need to pay $14.99 per month on top of your Prime subscription. The minimum for free delivery is $35, otherwise, it's $9.99 per order. Customers can pay an additional $7.99 for faster, one-hour delivery.