News Briefs

SoundHound AI, Inc., a provider of voice artificial intelligence (AI), and Samsung Electronics announced that they will be working together with White Castle, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain, to deploy next-generation, voice-enabled outdoor digital signage technologies that will revolutionize the way that brands interact with consumers.

The ground-breaking collaboration will provide voice AI-enabled dynamic drive-thru menu boards to White Castle restaurant locations. The display technology combines SoundHound’s sophisticated proprietary speech recognition and Samsung’s MagicINFO™ digital signage software to provide an exceptional, interactive customer ordering experience, complete with intelligent, real-time insights for the brand.

“With White Castle Cravers everywhere hungry for our hot and tasty menu options, we are investing in processing orders at the drive thru even more swiftly,” said Mike Guinan, Vice President of Operations Services at White Castle. “By working with tech innovators at SoundHound and Samsung, we’ve been able to create an engaging ordering experience that customers are loving. It’s the model for tomorrow today – and evidence of how friendly technology and great partners can be a game changer.”

With the White Castle collaboration becoming the gold standard for using voice AI-enabled menu boards at the drive-thru – with orders processed in just under 60 seconds, and 90 percent order completion rates that exceed previous staff-based benchmarks – SoundHound and Samsung have committed to collaborate on future projects. The companies plan to deliver this scalable, repeatable format to drive sales while creating experiences that customers love.

“In uniting our extensive voice AI expertise with Samsung’s MagicINFO display technology, we’ve created a first-class interactive experience for White Castle’s drive-thru customers,” says James Hom, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at SoundHound. “We look forward to finding new opportunities to partner to unlock the power of digital outdoor signage and turn menus into interactive restaurant portals with almost limitless possibilities.”

“With MagicINFO, Samsung is helping transform menu boards from simple, static displays to personalized, easy-to-navigate experiences for the customer that also deliver business benefits to the restaurant,” said James Fishler, Senior Vice President of the Display & Home Entertainment Divisions at Samsung Electronics America. “By integrating SoundHound’s AI-driven voice technology, we’re providing an extraordinary experience for White Castle customers when it comes to enjoying what they love. This is just the beginning of a relationship that will propel their brand to the cutting-edge of customer experiences powered by innovation.”

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill is testing an automated digital makeline in collaboration with Hyphen, a foodservice platform designed to help restaurant owners, operators, and budding chefs move their business forward by automating kitchen operations. Bowls and salads are created by an automated system that moves the entrées through the bottom makeline where ingredients for the order are dispensed automatically. In tandem, a Chipotle team member can leverage the top makeline to create burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and kid's meals for the same digital order.

How It Works

1. Digital orders would be placed via the Chipotle app, Chipotle.com, or third-party platforms.  
2. If the order included a bowl or salad, those entrées would be routed to Hyphen's automated system. The bowl traverses along the bottom makeline and positions itself under the specified ingredient container. The intelligent dispensers dynamically portion each ingredient into the bowl. If the order included burritos, tacos, quesadillas, or kid's meals, a Chipotle team member would use the top of the same makeline to create those entrées.
3. The completed bowl or salad would be raised from the bottom makeline and revealed at the end of the makeline through an opening in the countertop. A Chipotle team member would place a lid on the entrée and add any final items such as chips, side salsas, or guacamole to the order.
4. Completed orders would be placed in their designated pick-up area: in-restaurant pickup shelves, walk-up window, or Chipotlane.

Employee & Guest Experience

Approximately 65% of all Chipotle digital orders are bowls or salads, so the cobotic digital makeline has the potential to free up more time for employees to service the front makeline and deliver exceptional hospitality, while simultaneously increasing capacity for digital orders during peak periods.

The new digital makeline could also help enhance digital order accuracy, improving the guest experience.

• 71% say the ability to integrate with other systems is driving their POS purchase decisions, according to HT’s2 2023 POS Software Trends Report.

"Chipotle's new digital makeline built by Hyphen embodies our commitment to leveraging robotics to unlock the human potential of our workforce, ensuring an elevated dining experience for our guests," said Curt Garner, Chief Customer and Technology Officer. "Our goal is to have the automated digital makeline be the centerpiece of all our restaurants' digital kitchens." 

Chipotle's Investment in Hyphen

Chipotle invested in Hyphen as part of Cultivate Next, the company's $50 million venture fund that intends to make early-stage investments into strategically aligned companies that further its mission to Cultivate a Better World and help accelerate its aggressive growth plans. As a people-first company, Chipotle is seeking opportunities that will elevate the human experience for its teams as well as increase access and convenience for its guests. Investments may include innovations in farming and supply chain, advanced robotics, alternative proteins, and more.

Through Cultivate Next, Chipotle also invested in Vebu, a product development company that works with food industry leaders to co-create intelligent automation and technology solutions. Earlier this year, Chipotle and Vebu unveiled the Autocado, an avocado processing cobotic prototype that cuts, cores, and peels avocados before they are hand mashed to create the restaurant's famous guacamole. 

image courtesy of Chipotle

Shiji, a global hospitality technology innovator, has partnered with IPORT, an award-winning manufacturer known for enhancing the usability of iPads and iPhones, to introduce an all-in-one software solution for hotel restaurants. This collaboration will provide hoteliers with a seamless combination of a tablet and payment device to maximize their F&B operations.

The integrated iOS and payment device solution simplifies guest service for hotel restaurant servers, providing them with an effortless tool to cater to their guests' needs. As a certified Apple partner, Shiji and IPORT guarantee exceptional performance and reliability. Hoteliers can choose from multiple device options, including iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with their operations.

“IPORT products are built around modularity and flexibility that empower our hospitality customers to do more with the iOS platform. We are thrilled to partner with a leading iPad and iPhone cloud PMS and POS platform provider like Shiji,” said Chris Lawson, Head of Partnerships, IPORT. “We look forward to innovating with Shiji in disrupting legacy, monolithic providers who have limited the industry from harnessing the power of iOS and mobility. The future is bright, and the possibilities are endless with IPORT, iOS, and Shiji.”

"The partnership with IPORT is a significant milestone for Shiji in our commitment to provide innovative technology solutions for the hospitality industry," said Ryan King, Senior Vice President of Shiji in the Americas. "By combining our expertise with IPORT’s hardware solutions, we empower hoteliers to streamline restaurant operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences. This collaboration represents another step forward in our dedication to driving success in the Americas, and globally."

The tablet and payment device solution seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing hoteliers to choose the system that best suits their needs. By simplifying the payment process, it reduces operational complexities, minimizes errors, and saves valuable time and resources for hoteliers.

MDO, a hotel data platform that centralizes and operationalizes critical performance and financial data for hotel companies, has bolstered its back-office automation and business intelligence capabilities with the acquisition of HelloGM.

HelloGM, a centralized data analytics and automation platform, enables hotel operators to better understand property-level operating performance and automate previously manual reconciliation tasks. MDO customers will now be able to take advantage of a broader set of back-office capabilities, while HelloGM customers will benefit from MDO’s paperless night audit solution and more robust budgeting, forecasting and business intelligence solutions.

“We are thrilled to welcome the HelloGM team and customers to MDO,” said MDO CEO Vic Chynoweth. “By offering improved reconciliation workflows and efficiencies in hotel accounting and financing departments, MDO is now delivering solutions across all areas of the hotel back office. Helping hoteliers with streamlined, centralized operations and data-driven decision making tools will allow them to focus on what they do best, which is delivering a fantastic guest experience.”

Hotel operators face a dire challenge: The costs of staffing and supplying a hotel continue to rise and resources are oftentimes scarce. As a result, many hoteliers are focusing on finding creative ways to increase efficiency so they can do more with smaller teams, including centralizing many of the manual tasks that were previously performed on-property.

Coupled with HelloGM’s capabilities, MDO customers will now be able to automate and streamline more back-office tasks, helping to offset rising costs and improving the bottom line.

“HelloGM is excited to join MDO, giving our customers access to a broader set of capabilities and the ability to leverage MDO's established relationships with industry partners, which will increase data resiliency and quality,” said Dhaval Chokshi, Co-Founder and CEO at HelloGM. “We are excited about the opportunity to scale the business while continuing to provide first-class service to our hotel partners.” 

Over the past decade, MDO has evolved from a hotel-specific digital document storage solution to a holistic hotel data platform serving thousands of hotels. A next-generation business intelligence platform, announced in 2023, is enabling hotel owners and operators with the data and analytics they need to improve revenue, profit and guest satisfaction.

Today, Alterra Mountain Company has announced key additions to its executive leadership team with the appointment of Krista Sprenger as Chief Development Officer (CDO), Gui Karyo as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and Andrew Bodziak in the newly created role of Executive Vice President (EVP), Hospitality.

“We are excited to add these extraordinarily talented leaders in fields so crucial to the evolution and continued success of Alterra Mountain Company,” said Jared Smith, President & CEO, Alterra Mountain Company. “Krista, Gui, and Andrew each bring extensive expertise in their fields, and I am looking forward to their collaboration with leaders across our North American destinations as we seek to continually enhance the guest and employee experience.”

In her role as CDO, Krista will be responsible for developing, redeveloping, and reprogramming existing assets at all Alterra destinations, on and off the mountain. In addition, she will lead the company’s overarching strategy to leverage its real estate portfolio to deliver added value to our operating businesses.

Krista is an entrepreneurial real estate executive with two decades of diverse real estate experience. Over the course of her career, she has been involved in the acquisition, development, and operations of over 25 million square feet of mixed-use, commercial, and boutique hospitality projects. Her experience with multiple, simultaneous large-scale and complex projects and her deep experience with creative placemaking, community engagement, and sustainable development practices makes her the ideal person to help lead Alterra’s ambitious plans.

As CTO, Gui’s responsibilities include oversight of all Alterra technology operations, software development, and overall approach to the continual improvement of the guest experience through technology. His career has featured over 20 years of technical innovation, driving improvements in consumer experience and business operations across industries ranging from entertainment at Marvel and Ticketmaster, to gaming at Atari, and manufacturing and consumer products at Varsity Brands.

Andrew Bodziak has been named Alterra’s first EVP, Hospitality. In this new role, Andrew will be responsible for leading the company’s approach to lodging, food and beverage, retail, and skier services. In collaboration with each destination's president, Andrew will build a team of hospitality leaders and develop an overarching strategy to further expand and enhance these businesses to provide authentic and diversified offerings with a focus on guest satisfaction, operational efficiencies, and cost effectiveness.

Andrew has 15 years of experience in global lodging and luxury brands, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and most recently, Marriott International, where he led global operations for 30+ brands and 8,500+ hotels around the world in mobile guest services, digital in-room entertainment, sustainability, engineering, as well as the company’s offerings in spa, retail, and fitness.