News Briefs

Domino's Pizza Inc.  is launching You Tip, We Tip – a promotion that tips customers who tip their delivery drivers, beginning April 29, 2024.

"Domino's drivers have been hustling to deliver hot, delicious pizzas since 1960, and we love that customers have been tipping them for their great service since day one," said Kate Trumbull, Domino's senior vice president – chief brand officer. "But these days, everywhere you go, there's a tip screen. The pressure to tip is real, even when no extra service is provided. So, we decided to flip the script and show our appreciation by tipping customers back." 

In fact, in HT's 2024 Restaurant Industry Outlook,  one executive said tipping is "turning customer sentiments negatively."

How Does You Tip, We Tip Work?

When customers tip their Domino's delivery driver $3 or more online, they'll receive a $3 coupon to use on the following week's online delivery order. \

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Domino's is the first quick-service restaurant to tip customers for tipping their delivery drivers. To learn more about Domino's You Tip, We Tip promotion, visit dominos.com/youtipwetip.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe is changing hands. 

Private equity funds managed by Blackstone have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Tropical Smoothie Cafe from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. This buyout intended to help accelerate Tropical Smoothie Cafe's expansion through continued investment in menu innovation, operating excellence, and best-in-class marketing.

Blackstone has a long history of successfully propelling the growth of leading franchisors, including in its previous acquisitions of Hilton Hotels and SERVPRO. 

Tropical Smoothie Cafe began operating as a single location on a beach in Destin, Florida in 1997, and has grown into a nationally recognized brand with more than 1,400 locations in 44 states across the U.S. today. Known for its delicious mix of smoothies and food offerings, the company opened more than 175 new locations in 2023 alone, 70 percent of which were opened by existing franchisees. Tropical Smoothie Cafe has also been ranked #1 in the Smoothie/Juice Category by Entrepreneur Franchisee 500 for four consecutive years.

Peter Wallace, a Senior Managing Director in Blackstone’s Private Equity business, said, “Tropical Smoothie Cafe has had an impressive growth trajectory consistently building on its loyal customer base as it has scaled nationwide. Blackstone has deep experience helping accelerate the expansion of leading franchise businesses as one of our highest-conviction investment areas. We believe our capital and resources will help position Tropical Smoothie Cafe for continued success and innovation for the benefit of its guests and franchisees.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Leanpath builds on its integration capability with menu management systems, announcing a partnership with Galley Solutions and its culinary operating system.

Leanpath's intelligent food waste prevention platform is a complete solution that allows foodservice kitchens to understand what they are wasting and why it's being wasted. Leanpath's analytics, reporting, and automated prevention tools empower kitchens to stop that waste from reoccurring.

At MURTEC 2023, Hospitality Technology presented Leanpath with the Industry Hero Award for its contributions in reducing food waste.

The new integration between Leanpath and Galley Solutions imports customers' daily menus into the Leanpath food waste tracking platform. This enables kitchen staff to more easily and precisely identify what foods are being wasted and to make more informed adjustments to planning menus, automating production, and optimizing purchasing to prevent that waste in the future.

"We're always trying to shave some pennies off our cost per meal," says Chef Antonio Pignagrande, Director of Culinary Enablement with Harvest Table Culinary Group, an early adopter of the new integration. "The best way to do that is to not put food in the trash to begin with. Leanpath helps us avoid that food waste, and the integration with Galley Solutions is the next evolution of that work. It's going to allow us to understand where the opportunities are to reduce waste down to the recipe level."

"At Leanpath, we're laser-focused on helping our customers go beyond just gathering food waste data by turning that data into actions that reduce waste," says Leanpath VP of Product Brennan Hogan. "With this new integration, Galley Solutions customers are going to be able to drive even more precise and impactful food waste actions."

"This integration highlights the importance of the Galley Solutions culinary operating system as the hub of customer's food data," says Galley Solutions CTO Matt Ferguson. "Having that clean food data for things like recipes, ingredients, menus and vendor items is what makes this integration with Leanpath so effective for our customers."

BeCause, the Danish start-up transforming how the global hospitality, travel, and tourism industries manage their sustainability data, is simplifying the sustainability journey for members by integrating the industry association's Hotel Sustainability Basics (HSB) framework into its platform.

The partnership will enable WTTC to scale its Hotel Sustainability Basics more effectively, broadening its reach and impact within the hospitality industry. By centralizing relevant data within the BeCause platform, the global association will have greater visibility into which hotels have completed the framework and which ones are lagging, empowering it to advocate for more sustainable hotel operations globally. Similarly, hotel management at the chain level can check on the progress of individual properties and provide the necessary support to help them in their sustainability journeys.

"Sustainability is a priority for Travel & Tourism. Through the Hotel Sustainability Basics, the global hotel industry has come together to define 12 fundamental, globally aligned sustainability criteria that all hotels can and should implement as a bare minimum," says WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson."Our goal is to have a globally recognized trademark that shows customers at a glance that a hotel is taking measures to improve its environmental performance while also supporting its local community. By joining forces with BeCause we are increasing the transparency of that process and giving hotel groups an effective and efficient way to put that tool into the hands of their properties."

Hotels' Sustainable Path to Green

Hotels that adopt the HSB framework have three years to meet its 12 criteria, which include sustainability indicators such as energy measurement and linen reuse. They can apply for Hotel Sustainability Basics (HSB) verification annually through one of WTTC's partners, Green Key and SGS. Successful verification grants them a badge that can be used across their branding to appeal to the growing number of environmentally conscious guests.                                

In the future, BeCause will simplify this process further by automatically transmitting data from its platform directly to the verification partners. Hotels already using BeCause to manage their sustainability data can reuse their existing and overlapping data points for the HSB framework, removing the need for duplicative and manual tasks.

"Like any endeavor, the first step is always the hardest. While many hotels might have sustainability initiatives in place, they don't necessarily track their data – or do so efficiently. By completing the HSB framework through BeCause and gaining greater insight into how their business activities impact the planet, we hope they will be encouraged to pursue even more ambitious sustainability measures in the future," says BeCause CEO and Co-founder Frederik Steensgaard.

An Industry-Specific Platform Based on Efficiency

BeCause is a purpose-built, AI-powered hub that centralizes a hotel's sustainability data and automates the transmission of that data amongst different stakeholders, such as travel and accommodation booking marketplaces and industry certifications. Additionally, once a hotel enters its data into the BeCause platform, it can be upcycled and automatically mapped to multiple frameworks, making qualifying for voluntary green certifications faster and more efficient while ensuring regulatory compliance.  

For instance, hotels in Europe can meet their reporting obligations under the EU's Corporate Social Responsibility Directive by leveraging the industry-specific components of the ESRS reporting framework that BeCause is currently integrating into its platform, saving significant resources and reducing costs.

"For a long time, hotels have lacked an efficient way to manage their sustainability data. They were constrained by manual processes that produced unreliable results, making it difficult to get buy-in from stakeholders on sustainability-focused projects," Steensgaard adds. "We're here to change that, whether you are a hotel just starting out and using Hotel Sustainability Basics as your guide or you already have several eco-certifications granted."

Tripleseat for Hotels, a cloud-based group sales and catering management platform for hotels announces its exciting new collaboration with PURS Fine Hotels & Restaurants, an acclaimed German-based hospitality group with luxury properties located in the historic town of Andernach situated along the picturesque Rhine river.

PURS chose Tripleseat for Hotels to streamline internal workflow across group sales, food & beverage, front desk, and reservations departments. In addition, Tripleseat's recent integration with the Mews Property Management System was a key component in their decision, given they currently use the PMS, further simplifying their group bookings and event management processes.

PURS properties utilizing Tripleseat for Hotels include PURS Luxury Boutique Hotel & Restaurant designed by the renowned Axel Vervoordt boasting a two Michelin star restaurant; the boutique Hotel am Ochsentor featuring the authentic Italian Trattoria Ai Pero and Convent, a luxury living concept and unique event space.

“Tripleseat for Hotels was a natural choice to optimize our customer journey with its Mews integration that allows tracking room rates with room inventory within the platform and seamlessly connects all our departments,“ says Jasmina Klessa, PURS Marketing Manager. “We look forward to utilizing Tripleseat’s many features that help maximize leads and improve overall operating procedures.”

Tripleseat for Hotels offers tools to boost client relations, streamline workflow and event management, and increase revenue through data-driven decision-making. From tracking and storing customizable lead communication, guest portal payment capabilities, and integrated CRM, the platform is an all-in-one solution.

"We’re thrilled to be working with a celebrated hospitality group such as PURS, and see Tripleseat’s continued international expansion,” says Jonathan Morse, CEO of Tripleseat. “We look forward to delivering seamless customized service so they can provide exceptional experiences for their discerning guests."