Canadian-founded,  automated pizzeria chain, PizzaForno is opening kiosk locations in the public transportation sector with a public transit provider  Metrolinx. The PizzaForno kiosks at the 407 Bus Terminal and Weston GO & UP Station now serving pizza, baked fast and fresh in 3 minutes 24/7, to thousands of riders daily.

Thousands of riders daily can now enjoy hot and delicious pizza, baked fast and fresh in 3 minutes 24/7 at the station, as well as at Weston GO & UP station. PizzaForno marks the transit leader's first automated hot pizza option with additional kiosks anticipated to be announced at GO Transit stations in the coming months.

Metrolinx is responsible for the operation of GO Transit, UP Express, and PRESTO. It operates over 400,000 buses and trains and serves over 100 million commuters.

PizzaForno has more than 70 units across North America, with an additional 800 units already committed through 2024. PizzaForno uses patented technology to serve consumers the best in food, flavor, and convenience. Its 9 x 6 ft. kiosks are seamlessly installed and operating in food courts, convenience stores, post-secondary schools, military bases, tourist destinations, and boating marinas throughout Canada and the US.

PizzaForno app

PizzaForno customers have the benefit of touchless ordering. They can use the new PizzaForno app to pre-order to make the experience even speedier or order directly at the kiosk from an automated screen. A robotic arm takes the refrigerated pizza and puts it into an oven for baking. Less than three minutes later, a hot pizza in a box emerges from a slot. PizzaForno also offers a take-and-bake option to enjoy at home.

Founded in 2018 by Canadian entrepreneurs William Moyer and Les Tomlin, PizzaForno offers a selection of pizza options, each made with high-quality ingredients. Utilizing technology made popular in France by ADIAL, PizzaForno has built the brand on a proven machine with 2,500 units operating in Europe.  

Photo credit: (CNW Group/PizzaForno)

Subway  unveiled MVP Rewards, a refreshed loyalty program launching September 9 in Canada, the U.S., and Puerto Rico. The new and improved program gives Subway guests the MVP experience with more ways to earn, more perks, and more earning power as customers ascend from Pro to Captain to All-Star status tiers. Consumers can earn points by ordering their favorite sub in Subway restaurants, on Subway.ca or the Subway app.

MVP Rewards replaces Subway MyWay Rewards. All 30 million MyWay members across North America will be enrolled in the new program, and their unspent tokens will automatically be converted into points, giving them a head start on reaching status and earning MVP Rewards' best perks. New members will receive 250 bonus points when they join**.

"Subway fans are the best in QSR and to thank them for their loyalty, we're giving them the star treatment as MVP Rewards members," said Mike Kappitt, Chief Operating and Insights Officer at Subway. "Consumer input helped inform our refreshed loyalty program to create a best-in-class experience. MVP Rewards gives our guests more of what they love from Subway, with a few hidden surprises baked in, so every guest feels like an MVP and comes back to Subway more often for their favourite subs."

As part of its loyalty refresh, Subway made the program easier for guests to sign up, earn and redeem points, as well as advance from Pro to All-Star. Besides craveworthy signature subs and meal upgrades, members at the Captain and All-Star tiers will soon have access to special Subway merchandise and members-only VIP exclusives:

For a complete overview of Subway MVP Rewards and Subway's new loyalty program benefits, visit Subway.ca/rewards.

GauVendi is advancing its disruptive approach to rethinking inventory, which has already been successfully implemented in the GauVendi Sales Engine, towards an open, feature-based inventory platform.

GauVendi started in 2020 with an innovative AI-driven booking experience that provides accommodation providers with a comprehensive solution for hyper-personalized sales and fulfillment automation. It was mainly deployed as a stand-alone solution. With this evolution, accommodation businesses and technology providers can now explore new avenues in sales, distribution, operational efficiency, and marketing of inventory. They benefit from highly automated processes without major system overhauls.

"We aim to offer every operator the opportunity to distribute their inventory in a scalable manner, much like it was previously only possible through personal sales - and all of it fully automated," says Markus Müller, CEO, and co-founder of GauVendi. "With the open API interface, all technology providers can now sell relevant and customizable inventory through their platforms. Our solution acts as an additional layer integrated into the existing tech stack, enabling differentiated sales and automation without significant changes to the current system landscape," adds Müller.

GauVendi's platform is the only one worldwide that provides a feature-based language and a dynamic product management system with its approach. The open API approach ensures seamless integration with other technology providers. Feature-based inventory can be transformed into relevant and tailored accommodation products using the AI recommendation model. The result is a transparent guest experience right from the booking process and significant time savings during reservations through intelligent and optimized room assignments.

The newly established inventory management platform and the associated new products and solutions were developed based on experiences gained from implementing the Sales Engine with existing hotel customers, their achieved results, and the acquired data. The new data structure enables the introduction of advanced automation possibilities, including dynamically optimized and intelligent room assignments using AI (Reinforcement Loops), going far beyond the largely manual and limited assignments used until now.

In today's era of personalization, the data structure in the form of categories for inventory management has proven to be inadequate. It lacks information about individual room features in data formats, making it challenging for operators to fulfill guest requests without significant manual and operational efforts. Any inquiry about specific room characteristics is handled offline and requires manual processing. Monetizing these features is also not possible, and the lack of personalization reduces the competitiveness of accommodation businesses compared to others.

Müller adds, "These problems are a thing of the past with the use of GauVendi. The results our customers achieve with our current solution validate this: significant increases in room revenue, considerable time savings through new automation features, a reduction in phone and email inquiries, and better guest reviews and check-in experiences."

Flytrex, a drone delivery service, unveiled Autonomous Pickup, the newest capability allowing for a fully autonomous delivery process -- from order placement, to pick-up, through delivery to customers’ yards. By cutting delivery time significantly, to roughly five minutes from the time orders are ready, this innovation is creating new growth opportunities for major QSRs and family owned restaurants.

With Autonomous Pickup, Flytrex drones can pick up orders from restaurants and retailers via dropdown wire, and fly directly to customers’ homes to deliver the goods, removing the human component from the delivery process.

Several of Flytrex’s restaurant and retailer affiliates have already partnered with the company to realize this vision of a fully autonomous delivery process, including Unilever’s The Ice Cream Shop, Papa Johns, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, and Little Caesars, among others.

For the past few years, technology has helped make the rapid delivery business an appealing market for all. Yet third-party delivery fees to both customers and business partners have turned a convenience into a splurge. Removing the middle person from this equation allows for more affordable, efficient and sustainable delivery, Flytrex sayid.

“This announcement is a testament to Flytrex’s continued commitment to a future of ultrafast delivery for everyone,” said Yariv Bash, CEO and Co-Founder of Flytrex. “What’s so unique about this innovation is its real potential to move the needle, with more and more businesses getting on board with an undeniably seamless and cost-effective process. This upgrade is a huge step forward in achieving our vision to provide drone delivery to the millions of residents across suburban America.”

The introduction of this industry-changing innovation comes on the heels of a period of significant growth for Flytrex. Through the expansion of their services in 2022, Flytrex’s eligible customer base grew exponentially, from 40,000 eligible customers to 95,000 – a 138% increase. Flytrex is fully operational seven days a week and executes hundreds of deliveries a day via drone.

FAA Approved

Since launching autonomous drone delivery system in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2017, Flytrex has been working closely with regulators to get drone delivery off the ground. The company participated in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP), which concluded in October 2020, as well as the FAA’s subsequent initiative, BEYOND. In January 2023, Flytrex’s longtime partner Causey Aviation Unmanned was granted Standard Part 135 Air Carrier Certification from the FAA allowing it to operate and complete long-range on-demand commercial drone deliveries in the United States.

Flytrex is a drone delivery service that partners with retailers and restaurants to offer fast, safe and cost-effective airborne deliveries directly to customers' yards. Flytrex has delivery stations in North Carolina and Texas operating daily, and has signed agreements with several large retail and restaurant chains. As a participant in the FAA's UAS Integration Pilot Program and BEYOND program, Flytrex is leading the way in autonomous drone delivery.

image courtesy of Flytrex

P.F. Chang’s is revolutionizing its catering capabilities through a strategic collaboration with Cartwheel, an enterprise delivery management platform.

Cartwheel recently invested in integrating with ezCater. This integration further streamlines and optimizes catering management and delivery capabilities for the restaurant chain and centralizes once disparate channels into a single, unified platform. Efficient order and delivery management lead to exceptional customer experiences, which, in turn, drive repeat orders.

• 71% of restaurants offer catering, 8% plan to add it this year, according to HT’s 2023 Restaurant Technology Study

P.F. Chang’s has worked with Cartwheel to power deliveries through its online catering channels since 2021. The brand is committed to providing a personalized experience to its customers and has long understood the positive impact an efficient delivery has on the holistic customer experience.

"P.F. Chang’s has used Cartwheel to power deliveries for years. We’re thrilled that ezCater orders are now integrated into the platform, enabling us to centrally manage and control delivery across all order sources and channels,” said Jessica Jami, Director of Off-Premises Dining at P.F. Chang’s. “Cartwheel’s real-time tracking capabilities are especially crucial in providing an excellent experience to our guests ordering catering, We've seen a significant increase in repeat orders since implementing Cartwheel and are optimistic about the potential increase in catering revenue with this new integration”

Cartwheel provides P.F. Chang’s with comprehensive solutions for in-house delivery operations, including a user-friendly driver app, advanced dispatch tools for managers, and real-time order tracking capabilities. Delivery drivers have shown their appreciation for Cartwheel’s tools and interface, consistently providing high ratings and positive feedback on the app. Cartwheel also offers catering-specific features such as proof of delivery and the ability to automatically select vehicle types based on order size.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company with approximately 9,100 hotels across more than 95 countries, today announced new efforts to further elevate the hotel ownership experience for its franchisees around the globe—debuting new, state-of-the-art, owner and guest engagement platforms. Unveiled today during the Company's 2023 Global Conference in Anaheim, Calif., the tools come at no additional cost to Wyndham franchisees.

"Every day we're helping our owners open doors to best-in-class technology, more efficient operations, better guest experiences and more profitable hotels," said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. "With award-winning brands, the number one hotel rewards program, a record development pipeline and historic levels of franchisee engagement and retention—there's never been a better time to be a part of the world's largest, and fastest growing, pure-play hotel franchising company."

Driving Performance Through Community
Developed with help and insight from Wyndham's franchise advisory and brand councils, Wyndham Community—the Company's new owner engagement platform—marks a significant advancement for hotel owners looking to streamline and simplify management of their hotel operations, regardless of whether they own a single hotel or a portfolio spanning multiple brands and segments.

Offering actionable insights to help maximize hotel profitability, Wyndham Community seamlessly connects hotel owners to the day-to-day performance of their business while delivering a constant connection to the scale and resources of the world's largest hotel franchisor. Through the tool, owners can access real-time insights on key business metrics across their portfolio, from anywhere and any device, while also keeping tabs on high-priority tasks and other key action items. Wyndham Community also provides a direct connection to operational support while serving as owners' primary destination for vital news and updates.

Enhancing the Guest Experience
Wyndham's new guest engagement platform, powered by Canary Technologies, further enhances the guest experience by providing hotel owners with a series of best-in-class, mobile-centric tools, helping them better cater to today's travelers and their evolving needs. Slated to start rolling out in the coming weeks, it's built around four key areas:

• AI-Driven Property Messaging
  Integrating directly with Wyndham's next-gen property management systems (SynXis Property Hub and Opera Cloud), guests can text hotels directly for any needs throughout their stay. Frequently asked questions are answered by Wyndham Hospitality AI, freeing hotel staff to focus on other guest needs.
• Smart Mobile Check-In
  Building on Wyndham's first-mover status to bring mobile check-in and checkout to the economy segment, this newest offering helps protect hotels against unwarranted chargebacks and fraud by incorporating credit card and ID verification prior to guests' arrival, significantly speeding up the check-in process.
• Dynamic Upsell
  Hotels can engage guests in advance of their stay, offering enhancements like early check-in, late checkout and room upgrades. In doing so, hotel owners can now easily unlock new opportunities to boost revenue and their bottom line.
• Smart Mobile Checkout
  Upon checkout, housekeeping is automatically notified a new room is ready for cleaning while the checkout screen on the guest's device asks for a review of the stay. On average, pilot properties are seeing a 25% increase in positive reviews.

Unlocking the Wyndham Advantage
Wyndham's new owner and guest engagement platforms join a growing list of additional tools and resources, which collectively offer franchisees The Wyndham Advantage. From next-gen property and revenue management systems to opt-in, revenue-boosting, ancillary services like its Signature Reservation Services to loyalty-building incentives like The Rewards Circle; Wyndham continues to dedicate the full scope and scale of its resources to the long-term success of its franchisees. Over the last five years, the Company has invested more than $275 million in technology—delivering industry-first sales, marketing and digital innovations—all while expanding its on-the-ground operational support of hotels.

Adding to that growing list of firsts is Wyndham's new OTA reconciliation tool. Aimed at correcting the OTA overbilling that can occur when a guest no-shows, cancels or shortens their reservation, the tool automatically reconciles each hotel's stay data with the commissions previously charged at the time of booking. In instances of misalignment, the tool reconciles those stays so the appropriate commission is charged. Historically a manual process, or one which hotels needed to outsource to a third-party for a fee, the Wyndham-provided service is available today at no additional cost to franchisees and currently covers all bookings made through Expedia and its affiliated brands.

Wyndham's 2023 Global Conference runs through Thursday, September 14. Built around the theme of "Opening Doors," the 3-day, in-person event is known for being one of the largest gatherings of hoteliers and hotel suppliers in the world. For more information about Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, including franchising opportunities, visit www.wyndhamdevelopment.com.