Month: March 2018

Imagine this: You check into a hotel without speaking to a flesh-and-bones human, without using your phone, without doing anything beyond walking up to your room and getting your eyeballs scanned for entry. You click a button and are suddenly in the rain forest, toucans croaking in the distance as a nearby waterfall releases a relaxing mist with humidity you’re able to adjust through your augmented reality command center. (AdAge)

“Fine-casual,” a phrase credited to Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer, melds the speed and convenience of fast-casual with a chef-driven menu and other upscale touches that take the experience up a notch. A small-but-growing niche, fine-casual restaurants feed consumers’ craving for new cuisines and experiences while accomodating their demand for speed and convenience. (SmartBrief)

Starbucks has teamed with Closed Loop Partners in a challenge to inventors to develop a more sustainable coffee cup. The chain’s customers account for about 1% of the 600 billion paper and plastic cups used annually around the world, and the $10 million NextGen Cup Challenge will seek a fully compostable cup over the next three years. (USA Today)