Posts by theo.foukkare@bigpond.com

The innovation comes after throwaway containers and cutlery were banned. On January 1 of this year, restaurants in France were prohibited from serving food in single-use packaging. According to France24, there are 30,000 fast-food outlets in the country, serving six billion meals each year. McDonald’s is working with global RFID and RF security solutions company Checkpoint Systems to find a solution. After a thorough consultation period spanning two years, McDonald’s France commissioned Checkpoint in 2021 to execute this project, which entails the installation of RFID hardware and software in numerous restaurants across the nation. The project promises to decrease waste by offering unparalleled real-time visibility of McDonald’s reusable tableware stock, enabling swift and efficient inventory management, optimizing restocking and safeguarding the restaurant’s inventory for future security and usability, according to a press release from Checkpoint. For example, if a container is thrown into the trash, the RFID technology allows McDonald’s to pinpoint the…

Learn more about the icy drink with seven Slurpee facts. For 7-Eleven’s 96th birthday the company is giving away small Slurpees to celebrate what the company calls Slurpee Day. Between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on July 11 (7-11), customers can go into any participating store and get a free, 15-ounce Slurpee in the flavor of their choice—or flavors, if they are a flavor mixer. In preparation for the birthday festivities, here are seven Slurpee facts. 1. The Slurpee was created by accident—at a Dairy Queen in Kansas. In the late 1950s, a Dairy Queen owner named Omar Knedlik kept having his machinery break down, so he put soda bottles in the freezer as a contingency. The bottles would come out a little slushy, and after customers kept requesting the frozen-ish sodas, Knedlik realized he had a hit on his hands. He built a machine specifically to create this kind of…

The new platform from Meta, Threads, might dethrone Twitter as the top microblogging service. https://www.convenience.org/Media/Daily/2023/July/12/1-Whats-the-Deal-With-Threads_Ops? Threads, a social media platform with similar functions to Twitter, reached 100 million users in less than a week after a launching. Third-party estimates indicate that Twitter traffic has dropped significantly since Threads became available. The launch of the platform has stirred up an already hot rivalry between the heads of the two companies, Mark Zuckerburg of Meta and Elon Musk of Twitter. Musk accused Zuckerburg of using trade secrets and stealing employees from Twitter to work on Threads. “Don’t want to leave you hanging by a thread… but Twitter, you really outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February,” said Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino in a tweet Monday afternoon. “There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it.” Despite the rapid growth and millions of signups, it’s too soon…

Dive Brief: Dive Insight: While the c-store industry saw a major oil company use M&A to build out its c-store arm earlier this year, RaceTrac has taken the opposite approach by growing its branded fueling network. The deal not only brings RaceTrac’s overall footprint to most of the U.S. but notably gives the company a strong foothold in the northeast, where it does not operate any convenience stores or wholesale facilities besides one Metroplex site in Baltimore. Most of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts-based Gulf’s locations are in the northeast, including in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Vermont. As the fuel marketplace undergoes “historic and fundamental change,” RaceTrac is committed to investing in and growing its transportation fuels network, AJ Siccardi, president of Metroplex Energy, said in the announcement. “The combination of Gulf’s outstanding distributor network and RaceTrac’s history of driving retail fuel volume creates a tremendous…

Vending machines have always been a reliable way to meet the needs of consumers while are on-the-go. However, some grocers are looking beyond simply stocking soft drinks, crisps and chocolate and are using such machines to give shoppers something new and convenient. Grocery Gazette takes a look at how supermarket giants are giving vending machines a new lease of life. Iceland Iceland trialled a new frozen vending machine with Myprotein earlier this year, with the first introduced at the Fitness First gym in Wigan in May.Each machine is stocked with 10 different meals, and is designed with gym-goers in mind as each meal has 20-30g of protein or more. From £5.00 – £5.50 per meal, they offered options such as pulled pork mac and cheese, chicken tikka, katsu chicken and beef lasagne, among others. After a successful trial, the frozen goods retailer and sports nutrition brand is now rolling out more machines in other…

Leaders will need to develop “machine capital management.” Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has made startling progressions, and to successfully integrate this technology into organizations is a question of culture, organizational structure and people development just as much as it is a question of the technology itself, writes George C. Lee, the co-head of the office of applied innovation at Goldman Sachs, in Fast Company. Lee states that at Goldman Sachs, the human resources department, which fosters the recruitment, training, development, performance management and career advancement of its employees, is referred to as “human capital management.” Likewise, as business leaders develop strategies to incorporate generative AI into their businesses, they will need to develop “machine capital management.” The companies that are most successful in incorporating generative AI into their businesses should consider these five variables: Selection: Just like when businesses recruit the best talent to address their opportunities and challenges, they…