Rick Zambrano 
Focus Brands has named Guillermo Cremer chief people officer and Joe Guith category president, Restaurant Brands. The restaurant company is the parent of Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli and Schlotzsky’s.
Krispy Rice, a virtual Japanese restaurant concept, launched new menu items, including Krispy Chicken Gyoza and Tuna Tartare, and rolled out a limited-time Birthday Box option. The virtual brand was created by sbe hospitality and is part of C3 (Creating Culinary Communities).
Domino’s Pizza has partnered with autonomous delivery company Nuro, launching self-driving deliveries in Houston as part of a beta. Nuro blends robotics and AI to power autonomous delivery through its R2 robot. The Woodland Heights neighborhood in Houston is the target of the new pizza fulfillment program.
Chipotle Mexican Grill will offer debt-free degrees in Agriculture, Culinary, and Hospitality as part of its benefits to employees, expanding Chipotle Cultivate Education. Together with Guild Education, an upskilling and education company, the Mexican-style, fast-casual chain will extend the personal development benefit to employees after only 120 days of employment.
Virtual-restaurant operator C3 (Creating Culinary Communities) has partnered with Miami-based Akara Living to outfit ghost kitchens into its Kenect apartment communities. The first properties to be served by C3 kitchens will be Kenect in Nashville and Phoenix.
Pizza Hut has debuted The Hut Lane, a new order-ahead drive-up option. The Yum Brands pizza concept has activated 1,500 locations nationwide with these digital pickup windows. Franchise partner Flynn Restaurant Group, which purchased 900 restaurants recently, has committed to outfitting many of the locations with a Hut Lane, which are similar to drive-thrus, but for order-ahead only.
Cava Grill, Bartaco, and True Food Kitchen were top chains in the Fishbowl Emerging Brands 2019 report. Fishbowl’s annual rankings examine and measure sentiment for restaurant industry chains that had five to 75 units at the time it developed its analysis. Cava rose from the #10 spot last year to be the top chain this year. And True Food Kitchen slipped to #3 from the top spot in 2018. These chains show strong potential for innovation and differentiation, says Fishbowl, adding that it used rich data to develop its results.
Food innovation firm, CCD Helmsman, released its list of nine “2019 Food Trends That Matter.” Kara Nielsen, vice president, Trends & Marketing, for CCD Helmsman is one of the most respected trendologists in the country and is part of the team that dove into what’s emerging and trending in the food industry. The trends (see poster on page 12) are broken down into three categories: on the horizon, coming into view, and in view. Among those on CCD Helmsman’s list of food trends are Aussie influence, meet fruit meat, mushroom RX, abra-cassava, coffee cascara brews, nutrition of the sea, the veg spread, plant cheese choices, and egg power. Restaurant C-Suite dove into a few of these trends that have a high-impact on foodservice operators and restaurants with Nielsen.
