Sweetgreen Opens Automated Kitchen, Billionaire Bee Colony + More

Image Credit: Restaurant Business News

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

In the quest for efficiency and healthier food options, Sweetgreen has turned to robots to operate its salad line. Bloomberg reports that the company’s “Infinite Kitchen” is pushing the boundaries of food service automation, although human assistance is still required. Meanwhile, Forbes delved into the captivating world of Stewart and Lynda Resnick’s Wonderful Co, uncovering their billionaire bee empire. As pollinators of a third of Americans’ food, the Resnicks’ extraordinary endeavor involves the fascinating logistics of renting out its 80,000 hives.

In other news, we’ve wrapped the first season of our podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast, and be sure to subscribe and share!

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1. Sweetgreen Tests Robots to Make Faster, More Efficient Sad Desk Salads – Bloomberg

The “Infinite Kitchen” still needs human help, but it’s a big step beyond other recent attempts at food-service automation.

2. Inside a Billionaire Bee Colony – Forbes

Stewart and Lynda Resnick’s Wonderful Co. is among a handful of honey bee farms responsible for the pollination of a third of Americans’ food. But the real buzz is how they rent them out.

3. Michelle Obama Lobbied for Healthy School Meals. Her New Drinks Wouldn’t Qualify – Bloomberg

Obama wants to offer kids something healthier than soda, but some critics say that’s not good enough.

4. Restaurant365 Gobbles Up $135M to Supersize Its Software for the Food Service Industry – TechCrunch

The startup develops an all-in-one restaurant management software that covers accounting, analytics, staff and inventory management. It’s currently used in some 40k locations.

5. Wendy’s Tests Underground Robots for Mobile Order Pickup – Restaurant Dive

The QSR chain said it is the first to partner with hyperlogistics company Pipedream to create the system, which uses robot couriers to deliver orders from the kitchen to designated parking spots.

6. ADM and Air Protein Will Co-Produce Sustainable Protein Made From CO2 – Green Queen

Archer-Daniels-Midland has entered into a pivotal partnership with Air Protein, the innovator in air-based nutritional protein production that negates the need for agriculture or farmland and creates a revenue stream for captured C02.

7. Lever VC Releases SciTech Due Diligence Process for Investing in Cultivated Meat – Vegconomist

Lever VC announced the release of its internal playbook for benchmarking the scientific progress of cultivated meat and cell-based dairy startups.

8. Future Space Food Could Be Made From Astronaut Breath – MIT Technology Review

NASA asked companies to develop the next generation of space food. Here’s what they came up with.