Here are five restaurant tech developments that I believe have decent odds of happening in 2025. I went 0-1 on my only prediction for 2024—that DoorDash would buy Instacart—but hopefully a higher volume yields a higher percentage this time around.
Toast will buy something
The giant POS company generated impressive profits in 2024, so an acquisition this year is a real possibility.
What would it buy? Well, Toast has been making a move upmarket, signing big chains like Potbelly. A deal might target a tech supplier with enterprise clients that would help Toast grow that business.
Toast is no stranger to M&A. It has made several acquisitions in recent years, including drive-thru technology company Delphi Display Systems in 2023.
A restaurant chain will hire a chief AI officer
Yes, CAIOs are a thing. And they are probably coming to the restaurant industry sooner or later.
As big chains such as McDonald’s and Yum Brands make big bets on AI, it seems only natural that they’d want a dedicated executive shaping those efforts. My money would be on Yum, the owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, which has been particularly aggressive on AI.
Or perhaps it will be a smaller, challenger brand, like Jack in the Box, that makes the move in a bid to get an edge on the competition.
Texas Roadhouse will join a delivery platform
The steakhouse chain has long been opposed to delivery, in part because it hasn’t really needed it. Texas Roadhouse has been one of the fastest-growing large chains for several years now based on in-store and pickup sales alone.
But competition is heating up in casual dining, and that will push Texas Roadhouse to tap into delivery for a fresh source of sales.
Former delivery holdout Olive Garden provided a good blueprint in 2024 for how to do this while still protecting its brand. I’d expect Texas Roadhouse to do something similar, i.e., offer delivery only through its own website while partnering with a third-party provider for fulfillment.
CloudKitchens will file for an IPO
The ghost kitchen company run by Uber founder Travis Kalanick has quietly grown into a real force, with locations in 30 countries and a software product (Otter) that touches 18% of all online delivery orders. It has also gotten some endorsements from several large chains.
The company has kept a low profile since its founding in 2016. But it has recently begun to pull back the curtain a little, a possible precursor to a go-public filing.
I have no doubt that Kalanick envisions CloudKitchens as a large public company on the scale of Uber. And the strong growth of delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats could make this the right time to strike.
On a more practical level, CloudKitchens will likely need the funding to achieve Kalanick’s ambitious plan for the company: make food delivery so efficient that it becomes cheaper than going to the grocery store.
First-party ordering will make strides
As restaurants become more frustrated with their third-party delivery providers, the incentive to invest in first-party ordering grows.
We have already seen operators adding tools like loyalty programs and mobile apps that can encourage customers to order directly, so things are certainly moving in that direction.
But getting customers to use those tools is an uphill battle. Apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats offer convenience and selection. They are becoming household names. Increasingly, they are also offering more competitive prices.
Restaurants have to think about what they can provide that the apps can’t, such as better service or exclusive deals.
That’s how airlines and hotels fought and won this same battle against travel sites. And I expect to see restaurants start gaining some ground this year.
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