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Foodservice Director News: Page 5

Older foodservice director news, page 5 of 5. Back to the latest news.

  1. AI & Tech

    Common Route launches AI agents for sourcing and menu development

    Common Route released five AI agents that help operators find products and manufacturers, develop recipes from their own menus and pantry, and write innovation briefs for suppliers. The company says data users share is not used to train AI models.

  2. Equipment

    Purdue swaps Starship for Avride robots after Starship exits campuses

    After Starship pulled its more than 1,200 robots from U.S. campuses in June, Purdue Food Company is bringing in Avride robots through Grubhub, with an official launch planned for this winter.

  3. Equipment

    Robot.com and Grubhub add autonomous delivery at 10 more campuses

    Robot.com now operates on more than 20 campuses through Grubhub Campus. At Loyola Marymount, order volume grew nearly 70% quarter over quarter. DoorDash is buying Grubhub Campus Delivery for $300 million.

  4. Promotions & Launch Ideas

    Playbook: food-focused welcome weeks that sell meal plans

    College dining programs ran food-focused welcome weeks with cookouts, s'more kits and BBQ tie-dye events, combined with meal-plan education for returning students.

  5. Food

    Buying local: USDA's simplified geographic preference rule takes effect Nov. 9

    USDA's direct final rule clarifying geographic preference for local buying in child nutrition programs takes effect Nov. 9, 2026, unless adverse comments forced a withdrawal. It replaces "procurement specification" with "product specification" and "selection criteria" with "defined scoring advantage." It affirms that operators decide how a scoring advantage is applied and how much preference local products get, and confirms solicitations may use terms like local, locally grown, raised or caught. It also drops the undefined term "minimally processed." USDA says the meaning of the rules doesn't change and ties the clarity to the MAHA strategy.

  6. Clients

    Alabama State seeks a 10-year profit-and-loss dining partner

    Alabama State University's dining RFP covers a 10-year contract starting Aug. 1, 2027, with about 2,695 students estimated on meal plans. Proposals are due Nov. 9, 2026.

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