Food On Demand

08/22/2026

On the surface, California’s latest Allergen Disclosure for Dining Experiences Act, which took effect in July, was supposed to be about food allergies. However, recent data from the San Francisco-based ingredient-transparency platform EveryBite revealed that legislative change helped usher in a broader shift in how Americans order food, even among consumers without specific ingredient restrictions.

The nation’s most populous state passed Senate Bill 68 in late 2025, which now requires restaurant brands operating 20 or more total locations [with at least one unit in California] to disclose the top nine major allergens for every standard menu item across digital and physical ordering channels.

Menu intelligence tools, such as EveryBite, leverage artificial intelligence to help operators meet the new legislative requirements. EveryBite, specifically, uses a SmartMenu tool that pulls ingredient-level data to help guests make educated ordering decisions.

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Allergy Compliance Tech Emerges as Guest Acquisition Tool by Hans Lammeman | Aug 12, 2026 | News Briefs On the surface, California’s latest Allergen Disclosure for Dining Experiences Act, which took effect in July, was supposed to be about food allergies. However, recent data from the San Francisc...

08/21/2026

Two platforms hold about 95 percent of Australia’s platform-mediated delivery market. Uber Eats has roughly 64 percent of it, having taken on the customers and restaurants of Menulog, which ceased trading in November 2025; DoorDash has 31 percent. Deliveroo gave up and left in 2022. What is left over is 5 percent, worth close to $370 million a year.

That 5 percent is normally written off as noise, but in the Delivery World’s country model, it is not anonymous. That portion of the pie is split among HungryPanda, EASI, Foodhub and a handful of others.

In Burwood, the Chinatown of western Sydney, the leading apps are HungryPanda and EASI, which HungryPanda owns. The same residual holds GrubUP, which serves South Asian and Middle Eastern communities and lists home cooks alongside restaurants, because there they are often the same people.

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Diaspora Markets: Where the 3PD Majors Haven’t Won by Peter Backman | Aug 12, 2026 | News Contributing international editor Peter Backman is a longtime foodservice sector expert and founder of theDelivery.World, a platform that connects the delivery sector and makes sense of the myriad changes and...

08/20/2026

A slate of restaurant technology partnerships and artificial intelligence-powered new features last week showcased Google Maps’ effort to expand beyond navigation and discovery, partnering with tech vendors to let its 2 billion monthly users order directly through the app.

Ask Maps, a feature initially unveiled in March that combines Google’s AI chatbot Gemini with the nation’s most downloaded navigation app, allows users to discover restaurants and other eligible merchants and place orders through an AI a conversational ordering experience. Google announced the new agentic capability August 6, rolling out food ordering capabilities with point-of-sale system partners Square and Toast, with Uber Eats to follow soon.

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Google Maps Launches Agentic Ordering Feature with Square, Toast, Uber Partnerships by Hans Lammeman | Aug 12, 2026 | News Briefs A slate of restaurant technology partnerships and artificial intelligence-powered new features last week showcased Google Maps’ effort to expand beyond navigation and d...

08/19/2026

Gen Z simply dines differently than older generations. That theme echoed throughout a list of dining trends guiding Chartwell’s Higher Education’s culinary direction for the coming fall semester, which ranged from “fibermaxxing” to replacing the three-meal-a-day norm with more frequent, smaller meals.

For Chartwells, the North Carolina-based dining services provider with more than 320 college and university partners across the United States, last year’s forecast featured viral social media trends and strong international flavors. This fall, however, the company’s approach to serving students will highlight texture-rich dishes, functional meals and taking full advantage of shifting beverage preferences.

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Chartwells Identifies Grazing, ‘Fibermaxxing’ as Guiding Trends for Gen Z by Hans Lammeman | Aug 12, 2026 | News Briefs Gen Z simply dines differently than older generations. That theme echoed throughout a list of dining trends guiding Chartwell’s Higher Education’s culinary direction for th...

08/19/2026

Tomorrow’s the day. Have you registered yet?

Join us August 20 at 2 PM CST for an inside look at restaurant loyalty programs and what’s really driving repeat customers.

💻 The Loyalty Gap: Inside Restaurant Loyalty’s First Cuisine-Level Benchmark

Why do relatively similar brands see dramatically different loyalty results?

Hear directly from operators who’ve built loyalty programs that work, and explore industry-wide research spanning 19 cuisine categories, including the behavioral archetypes shaping guest loyalty.

Don’t miss it. Register today!
👇
https://bit.ly/4x0Xltp

08/18/2026

To the uninitiated, restaurant loyalty may seem fairly straightforward: Offer incentives so guests will become loyalty members; keep the discounts and exclusive menu items coming and those customers will become regulars.

That summary, however, is a vast oversimplification of a complex process of acquiring and retaining frequent customers, according to Olga Lopategui, founder and principal consultant at

During an August 11 interview with Food On Demand, Lopategui reflected on nearly two decades of experience working with prominent chains such as KFC and TGI Fridays, as well as a variety of small- and medium-sized brands ranging from 20 to 1,000 locations, to share the hard-earned lessons in restaurant loyalty acquired throughout her career in restaurant marketing and consulting.

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https://bit.ly/4qlpb0P

Restaurant Marketing Expert Breaks Down Loyalty Program Lessons by Hans Lammeman | Aug 12, 2026 | News Editor’s Note: This article is part of Food On Demand’s Summer Series, where the editorial team explores a different topic each month. August’s focus is Tech Lessons, for which one article ea...

08/17/2026

While the words “drive-thru coffee” appear on the store signage, 7 Brew’s appeal isn’t in a typical hot cup of joe. It’s the lattes, energy drinks, smoothies, teas and sodas, which are customizable, brightly colored and primed for social media sharing. They’re also mainly served cold.

“I think the industry hasn’t been disrupted in a long time, and that’s what’s been happening over the last few years,” says Brew Crew President Connor Wilson.

7 Brew had just eight corporate locations in 2020 and now is closing in on 1,000.

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Why 7 Brew’s Largest Franchisee Wants to Keep Pouring It On by Laura Michaels | Aug 10, 2026 | News Note: A version of this story was originally published on Franchise Times, a sibling publication of Food On Demand. Accompanying photos by Adley Haywood. As the playlist rockets from the Spice Girls...

08/14/2026

Texas-based quick-service restaurant chain Whataburger is celebrating 76 years of operations this month by offering loss leaders and discounting popular menu items by roughly 80 percent in limited-time promotions aimed at spurring loyalty program activation and app use throughout August.

Whataburger is far from the only brand using milestone birthdays to drive loyalty program sign-ups. In fact, commemorating anniversaries with dramatic, app-exclusive discounts has developed into a fairly standard tradition for quick-service brands.

“Birthdays are meant to be shared, and that’s exactly what we’re doing all month long,” Debbie Stroud, Whataburger’s president and CEO, said in a July 23 press release. “Whether you’ve been ordering the same Whataburger for years or you’ve been waiting for the perfect excuse to try something new, we’re celebrating the Guests who’ve made the last 76 years so special. Consider these weekly surprises our way of saying thank you.”

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How QSR Anniversary Deals Are Becoming a Common Customer Acquisition Strategy by Hans Lammeman | Aug 5, 2026 | News Briefs Texas-based quick-service restaurant chain Whataburger is celebrating 76 years of operations this month by offering loss leaders and discounting popular menu items by roughly 80...

08/13/2026

One week from today, join us for an inside look at restaurant loyalty programs.

💻 2 PM CST | August 20th

The Loyalty Gap - Inside Restaurant Loyalty's First Cuisine-Level Benchmark

Restaurant loyalty programs are no longer just nice-to-have — they've become table stakes for brands looking to win new customers and turn regulars into loyalists. But why can relatively similar brands see dramatically different results?

Hear directly from operators who've built loyalty programs that work, and dig into industry-wide research spanning 19 cuisine categories — including the behavioral archetypes shaping guest loyalty and driving repeat customers.

Register Here: https://bit.ly/4x0Xltp

08/13/2026

It took only one month after Starship Technologies halted autonomous delivery operations at U.S. colleges and universities for robots from Texas-based competitor Avride to start appearing on some of those campuses.

Bowling Green State University in Ohio quickly emerged as one of the earliest campus partners to make that shift, welcoming Avride robots to begin navigating potential delivery routes in July. Starship pulled its fleet from the campus shortly after the spring semester concluded following six years of autonomous delivery services, according to the school’s student-led publication.

Avride’s entrance into BGSU came through a master services agreement with Chartwells Higher Education, according to a press release last month. The dining services provider manages foodservice operations at about 350 U.S. campus partners and, until June, offered autonomous delivery through an agreement with Starship.

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https://bit.ly/4z2WARJ

Avride Arrives on U.S. Campuses After Starship Left for Grocery Delivery by Hans Lammeman | Aug 5, 2026 | News Editor’s Note: This article was updated Aug. 6 to include statements and updated information from Avride. It took only one month after Starship Technologies halted autonomous delivery ope...