🍔 Crazy new foods trends

PLUS: Apple’s new $1B+ office.. April 27, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( GameStop CEO George Sherman will leave the retailer with a pay package worth $160m+. This is the corporate equivalent of doing 0 work on a school project and still getting an A+. The big idea [food gif]( Food is having a moment right now If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that food is a darn good thing. So it comes as welcome news that recent weeks have seen a smorgasbord of food developments... … Including some delicious new tech: - Bear Robotics announced a [partnership]( with the NBA’s Houston Rockets to serve drinks and snacks to fans with the Servi bot (how creative) - Amazon plans to introduce [pay-with-your-palm]( service at a Whole Foods in Seattle - Domino’s recently announced [driverless]( pizza deliveries in Houston through a partnership with Nuro - Hazel Technologies [raised $70m]( to keep harvested produce fresh for 3x longer with tiny, antifungal vapor-releasing packets for commercial food boxes Startups around the world are kneading dough, too The pandemic has offered the perfect recipe for scaling food platforms to raise money and expand operations: - Belgium’s Deliverect raised [$65m]( for its ordering platform that serviced 30m orders in 2020, up ~750% YoY - India’s Swiggy raised [$800m]( at a $5B valuation for its delivery platform - Spain’s Glovo grabbed [$528m]( to help offer its 10m customers deliveries in 10-15 minutes - Norway’s Kolonial bagged [$265m]( and now controls ~70% of the country’s online grocery delivery market But sometimes ‘food’ doesn’t really mean food - Reese’s just [announced]( a partnership with HipDot Cosmetics for a peanut butter cup-inspired makeup line. - Busch Beer is offering $20k to fetch a new “chief tasting officer” for its Dog Brew bone broth “beer” (for dogs, to be clear) that quickly sold out last year. - Pepsi is bringing Pepsi Blue back to shelves this summer. Like it or not, we’re into [weird drinks]( at The Hustle, so we’ll be giving this last one a try. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Food+is+having+a+moment+right+now%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04272021-new-food-tech%3Futm_campaign%3Dnew%2Bfood%2Btech%26utm_content%3D04272021-new-food-tech%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. Big bucks: In the aftermath of the [failed]( European Super League experiment, Spotify founder [Daniel Ek]( is making a bid to own the Arsenal football club. Streaming beef: [Roku]( users may lose access to YouTube TV after it rejected the Google-owned property's request to manipulate search results. Lyft off: Rideshare firm [Lyft]( sells its self-driving unit to Toyota for $550m. Secure the deal: Private equity firm Thoma Bravo will buy cyber firm Proofpoint (email security) for [$12.3B]( and take it private. It’s the largest software PE deal ever. They see me rollin'... Tractor Supply's app surpassed 1m [downloads]( less than a year after launch, just as the company's loyalty program reached 20m members. Apple taking a bite out of Facebook? Apple began rolling out its new pop-up privacy notification that -- if selected by 80% of Facebook users -- could deliver a [7% hit]( ($2B) to Facebook's Q2 revenue. We just learned that Elektrek has an “Awesomely weird Alibaba EV of the week” [column]( that recently featured a $3.1k pickup truck, an $1.9k motorcycle with only one wheel, and a $2k horseless carriage. Curious how a company with a $2T+ market-cap writes persuasive copy? Alex broke down [13 ways]( Apple persuades readers with its copywriting. Buy Google for $2.90. That's basically what 1 Argentinian dude did [last week]( when the Google.com.ar domain accidentally went up for grabs. Google got it back minutes later. Brex has the eye of the Tiger. The corporate spending company raised a [$425m Series D]( led by Tiger Global and reportedly grew its total customer count by 80% in Q1 2021. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Big Deal Alert [Panasonic logo]( Panasonic acquires Blue Yonder in a $7B+ supply-chain software deal Let us introduce you to Blue Yonder, one of the world’s largest supply-chain software companies. Last week, Japanese electronics maker Panasonic acquired the software firm for $7.1B, per [Supply Chain Dive](. At this point, you’re probably wondering: WTF is ‘supply-chain software’? Here’s an example: - Panasonic manufactures a widget - Blue Yonder installs sensors and tracking technology in the warehouse floor that manufacturer the widget and logistics department that ships it - Real-time widget data on inventory, delivery, and sorting status all flow through a central Blue Yonder “control tower” to help improve operational efficiency As highlighted in the deal’s [presentation](, Blue Yonder’s technology is used by 3k customers in 76 countries and includes 65 of the world’s largest retailers like Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola. The pandemic has strained supply chains… … and Blue Yonder’s software provides a way to manage more frequent planning cycles and a massive shift to ecommerce. In business jargon, the ~$30B Panasonic Corp. -- which manufactures everything from EV car batteries to consumer TVs -- says the deal “will connect the digital and physical layers.” This is actually the 2nd deal in as many months by a giant Japanese manufacturer acquiring a software firm: Hitachi recently plunked down [$9.6B]( for Silicon Valley-based GlobalLogic. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Panasonic+acquires+Blue+Yonder+in+a+%247B%2B+supply-chain+software+deal%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04272021-Panasonic-Blue-Yonder%3Futm_campaign%3Dnew%2Bfood%2Btech%26utm_content%3D04272021-Panasonic-Blue-Yonder%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Corporate moves [Apple logo]( Apple is dropping $1B+ for a building in North Carolina Today, Apple employs 95k people in America. But by 2026, the iPhone maker has promised to add 20k more jobs on US soil, per [The Wall Street Journal](. At least 3k of those jobs will be in Raleigh, North Carolina -- and to accommodate its new employees, Apple is dropping [$1B+]( to build its first East Coast campus. The new office will focus on software and AI talent North Carolina is home to the Research Triangle Park, a region that includes 3 top-tier (you guessed it) research universities: - North Carolina State University (Raleigh) - Duke University (Durham) - University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) The $2T tech giant joins other notables names in the area, including IBM, Red Hat Software, Cisco Systems, and Epic Games (the maker of Fortnite who is suing Apple for its [App Store]( policies), according to the WSJ. While Apple’s HQ remains in California… … anchored by its $5B spaceship-shaped Apple Park, the company has been planting its flag around the country. Apple’s satellite offices place it in a prime position to poach talent in many industries, per [Above Avalon](: - Seattle (Amazon) - San Diego (chipmaker Qualcomm) - Culver City (Hollywood talent) - Pittsburgh (autonomous systems) - New York (media and publishing) - Boston (robotics) A new Apple office looks great for the local economy, but competition should be quaking. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Apple+is+dropping+%241B%2B+for+a+building+in+North+Carolina%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04272021-Apple-NC%3Futm_campaign%3Dnew%2Bfood%2Btech%26utm_content%3D04272021-Apple-NC%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDS Over $4m in revenue in the first 12 months… Have you visited the Trends community lately? Here’s what you might have missed last week: - Trends member Romain shared how he generated over $4m from an online course in just 12 months - A group of 25+ Trends investors are looking to make investments between $25,000 - $3mm in other members businesses - Professional hockey player Doug Lynch shared his three tips to be a high-performing entrepreneur - And much, much more To join in on the discussion, [try one week of Trends for just $1.]( [Join the Discussion →]( Meme of the day [food meme] Source: [Buzzfeed]( / Twitter SHARE THE HUSTLE [Hustle Cons Greatest Hits ebook]( Over the years, we’ve learned… secrets. The business secrets, tips, and tricks that have helped founders go from zero to millions -- and even billions -- of dollars. Want to see ‘em? Just refer 3 more friends to The Hustle and we’ll send you our curated set of interviews with founders from brands like Zola, AWAY, Vungle, Bonobos, and more. Here’s a message you can use to share with your friends: Hey! 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