Consumers have mixed feelings about meal kits. They’re convenient, sure, but are they sustainable — for the environment or as a business model? Boston-based meal kit company Just Add Cooking strives to be both by taking a local sourcing approach. Chief gastronomic officer Amanda Mayo told PYMNTS why she believes local is the future of meal kits — and how it fits in perfectly with the demands of today’s consumers.  Read More...

For quick service restaurants (QSRs), fast is the name of the game. But, when it comes to innovation, the industry is anything but speedy. In the inaugural edition of the PYMNTS Restaurant Readiness Index™, a Bypass collaboration, QSRs scored a meager 38 on a scale of 0 to 100 in terms of innovation readiness. So, how can QSRs spin their innovation wheels? That’s a $230 billion question the Index answers after examining hundreds of QSRs — and it comes down to a handful of really important things. Find that, plus an interview with Panera Bread vice president Mark Berinato on the intersection of QSR technology and innovation.  Read More...

The race to crack the code on turning cars into commerce hubs is not only getting faster, but the racetrack is getting more crowded. General Motors is the latest entrant to the field, but it seems to be taking a very different approach — one that is uniquely its own. How will it stack up against the likes of Amazon's Alexa voice-activated assistant and Apple's CarPlay iPhone display standard?  Read More...