News Briefs

Lunchbox announces the launch of Cater, a dedicated community hub and council for catering executives across the restaurant industry. 

As the catering industry grows to over $73B in value and is anticipated to grow to over $124B by 2032, this catering hub rolls out as a major resource during a pertinent time for restaurant, fast casual, and QSR catering sectors.

The new Cater platform serves as an all-encompassing resource hub for catering managers, marketers, and operators in the space, curating the most up-to-date industry news, trend reports, and resources. As the demand for catering services continues to rise, with 48% of caterers reporting the largest area of growth coming from corporate events: Cater is positioned to help operators capitalize on these opportunities with resources like an interactive catering ROI calculator, market outlook reports, and more.

The free hub also debuts a Catering Council, a directory of experts that specialize in delivering revenue growth, marketing, and operational strategies for restaurants. The Cater community will have exclusive access to consulting services, council-published masterclasses and materials, and more. The brand notably appoints Kelly Grogan, Co-Founder of CRUMBS, and Aaron Hoffman, Co-Founder and Chief of Staff of DeliverThat, as its inaugural council members, with more announcements in the coming weeks.

"The industry is screaming that everyone needs to DO catering, but there aren't enough resources to inform operators HOW to do it," says Kelly Grogan. "The Cater Council is a dedicated forum to bring together the people who are in the day-to-day, who are experiencing the roadblocks preventing growth, and who are responsible for scaling catering programs inside their organizations."

In addition to the online hub, Cater has established community pages on LinkedIn, launching a news page and a community page, which combined has garnered over 800 followers. These pages will be a central point for updates, networking, and community engagement, ensuring that members are always connecting on the latest developments in the industry.

"Even with catering being one of the biggest drivers of restaurant growth in 2024, catering is 10 years behind traditional takeout and delivery. The industry is filled with experts and strategists that know what it takes to build a multi-million dollar catering engine," says Nabeel Alamgir, CEO of Lunchbox. "We're introducing Cater to bring all of that expertise to one space, connecting operators to the rest of their community and encouraging a space to share knowledge, innovate, and push the industry forward."

Lunchbox Catering, known for its comprehensive suite of catering order management solutions, continues to empower restaurants across the nation. Brands platformed on Catering, such as Tacombi, Maman, Clean Juice, and more, are seeing check averages of over $500, beating out industry standards across B2B orders. Taking advantage of order management tools like tax-exempt status, house accounts, robust reporting, and a built-in marketing CRM, restaurants are seeing streamlined operations paired with sales growth once fully tapped in.

PopID and Steak n Shake announced today that all Steak n Shake locations in the United States now accept PopID Check In (to review favorite orders and loyalty points) and PopPay for checkout. With more than 300 locations, Steak n Shake is the first national restaurant brand in the United States to adopt biometric check-in and checkout nationwide. PopID’s biometric check-in feature makes kiosk ordering faster, easier, and more personalized.

The implementation of PopID in every Steak n Shake location was accomplished rapidly and at low cost through a partnership between PopID and ACRELEC, a leading supplier of kiosk-ordering hardware and drive-through products. Cameras were shipped to every restaurant for attachment to the existing ACRELEC kiosks. “As explained in our recent publication, ACRELEC believes that our integrated biometric solution provides various benefits to restaurant operators related to throughput, ticket size, and loyalty engagement,” says Bruno Lo-Re, President of ACRELEC America.

“We are thrilled about our partnership with PopID and to be on the edge of biometric technology for the benefit of our customers. Our guests now have the option to use biometrics for a faster and more seamless experience,” says Sardar Biglari, Chairman of Biglari Holdings, the parent company of Steak n Shake.

Now that biometrics are enabled for all ordering and payment inside Steak n Shake restaurants, PopID and Steak n Shake will begin implementing biometric check-in and checkout at the restaurant’s drive-through units. “Similar to the kiosks, biometric check in can increase loyalty participation and revenue at the drive thru while also reducing payment processing costs,” says John Miller, CEO of PopID and Chairman of Cali Group. “Additionally, biometric payment at the order confirmation screen enables staff members to work on tasks other than taking payments by card and phone at the order pick-up window.”

Duetto, a global leader in revenue management solutions, and SHR (an Access company), a leading provider of innovative and intelligent technology solutions for hotels and resorts, today announced a strategic partnership designed to revolutionize the casino resort industry. Using Duetto’s Dynamic Rate Engine (DRE), SHR Group will enable its casino customers to deliver real-time personalized pricing online to maximize revenue, as well as increase occupancy and guest satisfaction.

The newly certified SHR<>DRE API connection returns real-time rates and restrictions on the customer level, offering loyalty program members special rates and comp rooms based on their lifetime value. This collaboration enhances the experience for players and streamlines operations for casino resorts.

“Duetto’s dynamic pricing model delivers real-time, value-driven promotions that evolve based on player activity and worth. Now, thanks to our integration with SHR, these players can be rewarded instantly and can book their discounted or comp rooms easily online, encouraging them to stay more often,” said John Lingos-Webb, Senior Director of Global Partnerships, Duetto.

“SHR’s award-winning booking engine now integrates real-time RMS lookups via Duetto’s Rate Engine API. This collaboration with Duetto expands SHR’s existing casino functionality and provides our customers with a wider range of tools to offer personalized rates and comp rooms to their loyalty guests,” said Dan Edmonds, VP Casino Strategy & Solutions, SHR Group.

With Duetto's Open Pricing and dynamic discounting based on customers’ total worth, casinos can strategically determine which guests get a comped room or a discounted cash rate during high-demand versus low-demand periods, without the risk of over-investing and eroding the bottom line.

At HITEC,  visit the Duetto booth #1751 at HITEC or SHR at booth #447.

At HITEC 2024,  Amazon announced a new set of Echo Show visual capabilities for Alexa Smart Properties for Hospitality. The company also announced a new strategic collaboration with Viator, the world's largest travel experiences marketplace with over 300,000 global tours and activities. 

Many hotel operators currently provide custom Alexa-powered voice experiences in every guest room — including Reverb Atlanta, Circa Resort & Casino, and The Wynn in Las Vegas, as well as select U.S. Walt Disney World Resorts. These properties use Alexa to engage their guests, empower their staff, and generate revenue — all through the intuitive use of voice and touch.

These additions to the Alexa Smart Properties portfolio deliver robust capabilities for engaging guests during their stays — deploying targeted communications and marketing, and establishing real-time feedback loops.

When hotels provide Alexa’s Echo Show devices in guest rooms, these new visual capabilities give them more control over how they connect and engage with their guests. Through the intuitive nature of voice-enabled Alexa interactions and the ease of touch, Amazon’s Echo Show devices allow guests better connections with the hotel and surroundings. These visual capabilities deliver three key features:
 

• Persistent Visual Alerts adds a new option for prioritized guest communications. These alerts deliver prioritized communications through a full-screen visual that appears on top of the current content on screen. Every alert has a visible dismiss button, and remains on screen until the guest dismisses it by voice or touch, or at a pre-set time. Critical hotel information (e.g. window washing during daytime hours) or time-sensitive offers (e.g. 30% off a same-day spa appointment) will have more timely visibility to guests than verbal staff reminders or printed materials that are often delivered out of context. In addition to prioritized communications, hotels can deliver mid-stay guest surveys as alerts to create real-time guest feedback loops. Instead of discovering a negative guest experience in a post-stay survey or a public review, hotels can now address concerns while they can still impact guest satisfaction.
• Full Rotating Card Panel (RCP) Composition gives hotel operators complete, customizable access to the composition of the rotating cards on the Echo Show devices in guest rooms. They can highlight property information such as restaurants and other amenities, provide recommendations on local attractions, weather information, or other content options with whatever content mix they choose.
   
• A Branded Shortcut (coming soon) will provide an on-screen touch-enabled shortcut on Echo Show devices that’s always visible over any screen content. Guests can more easily return to the property’s menu of custom Alexa skills — adding efficiency so they can focus on the reason for their travel. The hotel’s brand will be used in the shortcut to further build affinity with the hotel.
   

The Viator experience on Alexa is a pre-built Alexa skill that new and existing Alexa-enabled hotels can easily add to their Echo Show devices in guest rooms at no additional charge. This Viator experience on Alexa is available at launch partner Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, is currently available in the U.S. and will be made available internationally over time.

For more information about Alexa Smart Properties for Hospitality, visit the website or contact Amazon.

Samsung Electronics  announced Samsung Hospitality TV compatibility with AirPlay, allowing hotel guests to connect their iOS and iPadOS devices to the TVs in their rooms easily and securely.

Guests will be able to enjoy the convenience of watching their favorite shows and movies from popular streaming services, listening to personal playlists on various music platforms, viewing photos, practicing presentations, playing games and more on the TV in their room. By simply scanning a unique, on-screen QR code, guests can privately and securely connect their iPhone or iPad to the Samsung Hospitality TV,

Ensuring both convenience and robust security, no personal information is ever stored or saved and all information about paired devices is automatically erased upon guest checkout. This feature not only enhances the guest experience but also provides peace of mind regarding data privacy. Additionally, hotel managers and operators can easily update their management systems to enable AirPlay technology, simplifying the integration process.

The integration of Apple AirPlay is part of Samsung’s broader strategy to enhance the in-room experience for hotel guests while providing powerful management tools for hotel operators. Samsung’s latest hospitality TVs include LYNK Cloud and SmartThings Pro for enhanced connectivity, seamless management and improved guest experience.

“Samsung is committed to building a robust and connected ecosystem that enhances convenience, usability, and overall guest experience,” said Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “AirPlay allows both iPhone and iPad users to easily share their favorite content on the big screen in their hotel room, making their temporary stay at a hotel feel more like home. LYNK Cloud and SmartThings Pro also give hotel management better business insights while making their operations more seamless and efficient.”

For hotel managers and operators, LYNK Cloud is a comprehensive cloud solution for Samsung Hospitality TVs that offers customizable content, remote device management, and access to OTT entertainment. Equipped with an e-commerce platform, LYNK Cloud provides an in-room ordering system that offers guests interactive services such as booking hotel services, ordering room service, a digital concierge and more, all bundled in solution. With LYNK Cloud, hotel managers can also use insights to personalize content and experiences for hotel guests to create impactful promotional content across different rooms or properties worldwide.

SmartThings Pro brings enhanced connectivity to hotel managers, delivering more interoperability and security with IoT devices in their properties. Hotel IT managers can connect and control Samsung smart devices² throughout the hotel, such as Hospitality TVs, Smart Signage, air conditioning systems and more IoT devices³ through one efficient dashboard. The SmartThings Pro Dashboard enhances multi-unit management, device performance monitoring – all designed with scalability and developer-friendly integration in mind. To meet the diverse set of hotel partners’ needs, SmartThings Pro also offers customizable Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for seamless integration with existing systems, and a customizable dashboard.

ezCater and The Habit Burger Grill, today announced the launch of the restaurant brand’s first catering program. Workplaces can now get The Habit Burger Grill’s award-winning Charburgers, onion rings, tempura green beans and salads catered from a majority of the fast-casual chain's locations on ezCater.com and the ezCater app as well as habitburger.com/catering/.

"Partnering with ezCater allows us to extend our reach by connecting with new, high-value business clients and incremental orders," said Jack Hinchliffe, Chief Marketing Officer of The Habit Burger Grill. "It's also about expanding our dining options to create memorable experiences with our California-inspired recipes. Cooked freshly to order on the flame, our food brings a unique flavor to any event, and I love that ezCater makes this all effortless."

The Habit Burger Grill takes part in ezCater's Reliability Rockstar program, an earned status that highlights the most reliable restaurants on the ezCater Marketplace. In just a few months since launching their pilot with ezCater, 21 of The Habit Burger Grill locations have already received ezCater’s Reliability Rockstar badge, showcasing the chain’s commitment to delivering an excellent customer experience grounded on orders delivered on time and as ordered.

“We’re thrilled to help The Habit Burger Grill capitalize on the growing demand from workplaces nationwide who want to feed their employees," said Michelle Smart, Chief Customer Care Officer, ezCater. "We both share a commitment to exceptional customer experience and the high reliability our business customers expect. This dedication makes for a perfect partnership.”

The Habit Burger Grill is also participating in ezCater’s first-ever Deal-icious Summer Savings promotion. Customers who order from participating The Habit Burger Grill locations on ezCater between June 24, 2024 and July 5, 2024 can receive savings of $20 off $200 or more, $30 off $300 or more, or $40 off $400 or more of their purchase using promo code “DEALS”. Orders must be placed and fulfilled between June 24, 2024 and July 5, 2024. Terms and conditions apply to all offers. For more information on ezCater’s Deal-icious Summer Savings, visit: https://www.ezcater.com/company/lp/deal-icious-terms-and-conditions

ezCater helps more than 100,000 restaurants and catering partners, from local independent restaurants to national chains, grow, manage, and analyze their catering businesses. To learn more about the ezCater Catering Growth Platform, visit www.ezcater.com/grow.