Industry News for September 28, 2024

Hot Off the Presses

ezCater, the #1 food tech platform for workplaces, today announced the launch of Smart Ordering, a new feature powered by AI and machine learning that simplifies the time consuming and high-stakes experience of ordering food for the workplace. Smart Ordering uses over 17 years of ezCater proprietary data to help customers easily determine what and how much to order when feeding large groups at work. Now, ordering food for a team meeting of 20 or a weekly lunch for 300 can be done in minutes. With Smart Ordering, users receive menu recommendations at different price points. These recommendations can be modified to accommodate different headcounts and personal preferences, transforming what is often a time-consuming task into a few simple steps. If Smart Ordering is enabled on a restaurant's menu, the order recommendations will appear at the top of the menu, labeled “All-in-One Orders.” Smart Ordering is the latest feature added to ezCater’s comprehensive food tech platform, which provides flexible and scalable solutions for everything from recurring employee meals to one-off meetings. The feature is currently available in over 50,000 restaurants on ezCater, with more rolling out throughout this year and next.   

Guckenheimer, leading U.S.-based food services provider, announced today that it has achieved a 64% reduction from Q2 2022 baseline data, well surpassing its ambitious goal set in 2021 of reducing food waste by 50% by the end of 2024. This milestone positions Guckenheimer as the first major U.S. food service business to cut food waste in half, setting a new industry benchmark. The achievement is a testament to Guckenheimer’s commitment to environmental stewardship, which the company emphasized as a core value in its recent brand refresh. It also aligns with the global goal of Guckenheimer’s parent company, ISS, to halve food waste by 2027 and supports the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which aims to halve global food waste by 2030. To help drive its ambitious food waste reduction goals, Guckenheimer harnessed the power of vendor and client relationships—none more impactful that its partnership with Winnow, which provides the company with cutting-edge AI food waste measurement solutions. Winnow’s tools have empowered Guckenheimer teams across North America to make data-driven decisions that enhance operational efficiency and deliver substantial environmental benefits.  

In Memoriam

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Chef Eric Koyama. Chef Eric was an integral part of the ‘ohana and was passionate in his efforts to create innovative Hawaii-inspired food. As Executive Chef for Culinary Innovation, Chef Eric made an incredible impact at King’s Hawaiian. He was one of our first chefs in Innovation and was instrumental in new product development. He designed our test kitchens, built out our first innovation process and was most passionate about bringing Paradise Cakes to grocery.  

Products on the Market

General Mills Foodservice has introduced Pillsbury™ Croissant Buns. These thaw-and-serve croissant buns offer a low-labor carrier for a variety of sandwich possibilities. Making it easier for foodservice operations to serve elevated sandwiches, General Mills  Foodservice offers Pillsbury™ Croissant Buns which come pre-baked and pre-sliced for minimal back-of-house preparation. The new thaw-and-serve carrier croissants offer operations the flexibility to serve one or 1,000 with easy portioning to reduce waste. Featuring a sweet, dairy flavor with buttery notes and a flaky, tender texture, the buns come in a durable round shape for endless opportunities for sandwich offerings. The Pillsbury Croissant Buns are the latest in Pillsbury’s expansive line of croissants, including thaw-and-serve and freezer-to-oven, to give culinary professionals a range of versatile, lowlabor options to serve quality croissants. For inspiration, operators can download a free recipe collection called “Craveable Croissant Creations” with a dozen easy sandwich ideas to elevate menus across dayparts. 

“The Pillsbury Croissant Bun is designed with longer hold times in mind, making it an ideal sandwich carrier for events and catering,” said Chef Kevin Relf, who works closely with General Mills Foodservice’s hotel, lodging, and commercial restaurant customers.  “My favorite application is as a breakfast sandwich, as it has the perfect size for protein in every bite.”