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Exclusive
Liquid Concentrates are Redefining Coffee Convenience
The out-of-home coffee sector thrived on a simple consumer compromise: paying a premium for café-quality beverages that were impossible to replicate at home without expensive, complex machinery. with nearly half of the UK workforce operating in a hybrid model and embracing behavioural shifts like "coffee badging,"
Exclusive Interview
Miso Robotics: AI & Robots in The Kitchen
From the sizzling precision of Flippy to the real-time intelligence of Zippy, Hull reveals how AI and automation are doing more than just frying fries; they are safeguarding workers, empowering managers, and delivering on the elusive promise of the perfect guest experience.
Rich Hull
CEO, Miso Robotics
Miso is built to close that gap on both fronts. Flippy executes the fry station the same way every single time, twice as fast as a human, with zero variance based on who is working the shift. That means the food your guest gets in one location matches what they get in every other location, every time. On the operations side, Zippy is an employee revenue engine and AI shift manager that gives operators AI-powered labour forecasting, employee task management, and real-time store performance data, so managers are putting the right people in the right roles instead of just filling shifts. That is what drives service quality, and it is why operators using our platform and our products see measurable improvements in guest satisfaction scores.
The problem with most restaurant data tools is that they tell you what happened last week. By the time a manager is reading that report, the scheduling decision that hurt them last Saturday is already baked in. Zippy is built around real-time visibility so operators can make decisions that actually change outcomes, rather than just explain them after the fact. If labour is trending wrong today, you can see it and act on it now.
What makes that actionable, rather than just another dashboard, is how Zippy delivers the information. Instead of forcing managers to navigate reports and stitch data together themselves, Zippy brings a conversational AI experience to restaurant operations so an operator can simply ask what happened at a location, why a metric shifted, or how a scheduling change is tracking against sales. The answer comes to you, instead of you having to go find it.
Yes, and this is one of the outcomes of which we are proudest. Burns from the fry station are the number one workers' compensation claim in the QSR industry. Flippy eliminates that exposure entirely. That is not a small thing when you consider what fry station workers have historically dealt with: hot oil, relentless pace, repetitive strain, and a job that burns people out physically.
What we did not fully anticipate was how much employees would actually embrace working alongside Flippy. We see 90%+ employee favorability in our deployments. One of our operator partners documented a reduction in employee walking distance that cuts physical fatigue significantly, and they credit Flippy with improving retention on their team.
The future commercial kitchen is AI-powered, data-driven, and still fundamentally human. We are not building toward a kitchen with no people in it. We are building toward a kitchen where people are doing work that is safer, more skilled, and more satisfying, while the machine handles the repetitive and dangerous tasks it is better suited for.
For Miso specifically, the trajectory is toward a fully connected operation. Flippy handles the physical execution at the fry station. Zippy, our next-generation employee revenue engine and AI shift manager, handles the intelligence layer: forecasting, scheduling, performance insights, and employee engagement. As those products deepen their integration, operators gain something the industry has never had before, which is a single AI layer that sees the entire operation and helps them run it better in real time.
Transition to Natural Food Colours for Confectionery
Research by RTI International highlights the agricultural, manufacturing, and regulatory investments required to shift the US food supply from synthetic dyes to natural colours. Supported by the National Confectioners Association (NCA), the report is titled Recoloring the U.S. Food Industry's Future.
Report
July 30, 2026
How The Coca-Cola System is Expanding Refillable PET and Glass Bottles Globally
The Coca-Cola Company and its global bottling network are expanding refillable glass and PET packaging through multi-million-euro infrastructure investments and universal bottle designs. Bottles have been an iconic symbol of The Coca‑Cola Company since the first contour bottle was introduced in 1916.
Report
July 23, 2026
Mars: The Evolution of Halloween Candy & Summerween
The annual Mars Halloween trends report reveals shifting consumer habits, with early seasonal demand and digital discovery on TikTok driving confectionery sales well ahead of October. Driven by younger generations and the rise of Summerween, Halloween is becoming America's longest seasonal shopping occasion.
Report
July 23, 2026
Pepsi Announces Pop-up Ice Cream Parlour Experience in Soho Featuring Ice Cream-Inspired Range
July 26, 2026
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Mars Expands Galaxy Portfolio with Dessert-Inspired Chocolate Bars
July 25, 2026
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7-Eleven Japan Launches Fruit Sandwich with Cocoa Bread
July 19, 2026
M&S New Chocolate Strawberry & Pistachio Creme Sandwich
June 25, 2026
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Like Air Enters Rice Cake Segment with Dessert-Inspired Line
June 17, 2026
PepsiCo Brand Mug Root Beer Launches Vanilla Howler to Target Dirty Soda Trend
June 12, 2026
Naked Smoothies Launches Plant Based Protein Flavours
June 8, 2026
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Kraft Heinz Announces Macaroni & Cheese Flavoured Cheesecake
May 26, 2026
TREND WATCH: Summer 2026
Differently Indulgent: Dessert-Inspired Flavours
The push-pull between functional wellness and high-end decadence is creating some of the most interesting innovations in the food industry. As consumer fatigue over hyper-functional "bio-hacking" foods peaks, a new category has emerged that refuses to choose between a clean conscience and a clean plate. Welcome to the era of the differently indulgent.
Dirty Soda Nostalgia
Healthy & Dessert Flavoured
Elevating Functional Food
June 2026 Issue
FNBX INSIDER: Differently Indulgent
Summer is officially here, and the food and beverage world is shaking things up! Consumers are craving functional health and unapologetic escapism, and the industry is stepping up to deliver. With hyper-wellness trends and GLP-1 weight-loss meds shrinking our appetites for heavy, solid sweets, we still want our treats! The solution? Liquid indulgence.
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Next-Gen Chocolate
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Functional F&B
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Rule-Breaking Marketing
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Latin American Innovation
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European Commercialisation
