Industry Shaping Trends From the 2026 NRA Show
At the 2026 National Restaurant Association Show, experts highlighted cold beverages as the new profit engine, noting a projected 130% growth in the refresher segment over four years. They also underscored the rising importance of Instagram‑ and TikTok‑ready dishes, with 78% of Gen Z and Millennials weighing visual appeal in dining choices. Finally, the panel revealed that value is now measured by taste, experience and convenience, while hyper‑regional Asian and Latin American flavors are moving into the mainstream menu.
Restaurants Use Menu Intelligence to Shape Loyalty, Discovery and Personalization
Restaurant leaders at the 2026 Food On Demand Conference highlighted how menu intelligence transforms digital ordering, offering ingredient‑level transparency and personalized recommendations. More than 90% of guests now browse menus online before dining, prompting chains to adopt e‑commerce‑style filtering. Noodles...
DoorDash Trends Report Highlights AI’s Growing Role in Restaurant Discovery
DoorDash’s 2026 Restaurant Industry Trends Report shows AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini are now a major source for restaurant discovery, with 22% of U.S. consumers using AI to choose where to eat. The survey of more than...
Alternate Delivery Platforms Find Success in Niche Spaces
At the 2026 Food On Demand Conference in Dallas, leaders of three smaller delivery firms explained how niche strategies let them compete with DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub. Fantuan targets immigrant and student communities across the U.S., U.K. and Australia,...
Catering Leaders Stress SOPs, 3PD Approaches as Key to Scaling
Catering is evolving from a side hustle into a core revenue channel, prompting brands to treat it as a separate business unit. Panelists at the 2026 Food On Demand Conference highlighted the need for simple, enforceable standard operating procedures, strong...
DoorDash, Google Bet on AI to Shape the Future of Dining
DoorDash and Google unveiled new AI-driven solutions aimed at modernizing restaurant discovery and ordering. DoorDash introduced an AI-powered photo editing suite within its Merchant Portal, letting operators clean up images, adjust lighting, and standardize visual style without costly manual work....
Restaurants Shift Marketing Strategies as Digital Ordering Matures
Restaurant leaders at the 2026 Food On Demand Conference highlighted that digital ordering has evolved from a promotional channel into the primary customer acquisition front door. Executives from KBP Brands, Smoothie King and Uber noted that real‑time ordering demands operational...
DoorDash Ramps Up Reservations with Largest Expansion Yet
DoorDash announced its largest Reservations rollout, extending the in‑app booking service to ten global cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and an expanded footprint in Las Vegas. The UK‑based Deliveroo arm launched the feature in London, adding nearly 20 Michelin‑starred restaurants and...
Drive-Thru Concepts Welcome Tech Advancements, But Not Without Human Touch
PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans, part of Ballard Brands, is championing a hybrid dine‑in and drive‑thru model that delivers 30‑40% higher revenue than café‑only locations. Roughly 80% of its units now feature a drive‑thru, with the brand emphasizing order accuracy...
Restaurant Industry Insiders Suggest a Focus on Problem-Solving Tech
Restaurant leaders at the 2026 Food on Demand Conference stressed that technology must solve real operational problems, not just showcase novelty. DoorDash Labs highlighted its Smart Scale, which cut missing items by more than 30% after scaling to 10,000 stores....
Brand Leaders Embracing Change, but Still Put Food First
Bonchon CEO Suzie Tsai admitted the brand’s tech stack is weak and is opting for a measured, value‑driven rollout, such as installing self‑serve kiosks in roughly a third of its 400 global locations. The Korean fried‑chicken chain now generates 55%...
Dream Vs. Reality: Restaurant Marketers Still Working Toward Personalization
Restaurant loyalty programs have shifted from being a differentiator to a baseline expectation, prompting marketers to focus on program effectiveness and retention. Executives at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and Cheba Hut highlighted the difficulty of translating personalization ambitions into...
Restaurant Leaders Share Strategies Driving Robust Off-Premises Operations
Restaurant leaders at the Food On Demand Conference outlined new off‑premises strategies, highlighting Papa John’s rollout of Google Cloud’s Food Ordering AI Agent and a planned integration of Deliverect’s AI management platform across U.S. locations by 2027. Applebee’s announced an...
Autonomous Delivery Reaches Age of Expansion
Autonomous delivery is moving from concept to rapid expansion as Zipline and Coco Robotics announced aggressive growth plans at the 2026 Food on Demand Conference. Zipline will add service in Austin and Phoenix by the end of the quarter and...
Elizabeth Idstein, Amazon
Elizabeth Idstein is a seasoned operations and executive‑support leader at Amazon. She began her career managing a massive fulfillment center with over 4,000 associates and now supports three Regional Directors within Amazon Logistics. In her current role she coordinates last‑mile...