ATLANTA — Coca-Cola North America is launching a digital marketplace this fall that connects its foodservice customers to pre-vetted, industry-best restaurant technologies with competitive pricing. The marketplace of solutions for front of house, back of house and outside of house is powered by Omnivore, a universal point-of-sale connectivity platform, that offers seamless integration into restaurants’ point-of-sale (POS) systems. The marketplace is the result of a year-long collaboration between Coca-Cola and Omnivore and one output of Coca-Cola’s investment in Omnivore, announced in late 2018.
Today, restaurant consumers’ expectations and use of digital technology are evolving at a record pace, creating growth opportunities for restaurants. While third-party technology companies are innovating to provide game-changing solutions for the restaurant industry, it is challenging and costly for restaurant operators to research, test, integrate and deploy the right technologies to capitalize on this growth opportunity.
Coca-Cola’s digital marketplace addresses these concerns. Experts at Coca-Cola and Omnivore have partnered to vet today’s leading foodservice technologies, taking the guesswork out of finding the best-in-class digital solutions for restaurant operators. Coca-Cola’s strategic partnership with Omnivore allows for easy and affordable integration between any of the technologies in the marketplace and a restaurants’ POS system. This seamless connection capability reduces the time, money and resources restaurants currently expend on technology integration.
The curated marketplace will include restaurant technologies to improve consumer engagement and optimize all aspects of restaurant operations, including:
- front-of-house technologies (tableside ordering and payment, guest engagement, kiosk, digital menus);
- back-of-house technologies (inventory, labor, analytics); and
- outside-of-house technologies (online ordering, third-party delivery, loyalty and more).
“For 133 years, Coca-Cola has been focused on adding value beyond the beverage for our customers,” said Billy Koehler, Director of Digital & Payment Platforms for National Foodservice & On-Premise Marketing at Coca-Cola North America. “Decades ago, we provided customers with value-adds like Coca-Cola-branded cash registers and static Coca-Cola signage. In the 21st century, combining our expertise in foodservice and digital to offer tangible technology solutions provides the most value for our restaurant partners who always welcome an edge to increase their revenue. The marketplace is just one example of the digital solutions we’ll be rolling out for customers in the months to come.”
Coca-Cola and Omnivore are collaborating with today’s leading technology providers for inclusion in the marketplace, which is set to launch in September 2019. Access to the marketplace and technology integration through Omnivore is free for Coca-Cola customers. Cost to a restaurant for technologies in the marketplace will vary by technology, but more competitive rates will be available for Coca-Cola customers.
Coca-Cola has been focused on providing digital solutions for their customers the last few years. After forging a partnership in 2018, this spring Coca-Cola and Omnivore launched the Menu Management Solution (MMS) app, a single source of truth software that allows restaurants to own their digital menu content and control their brand across any digital platform.
“Our year-long collaboration with Coca-Cola and select restaurant operators has helped us validate and develop additional digital solutions that contribute to profitable growth for restaurants,” said Shane Wheatland, Chief Marketing Officer at Omnivore. “These solutions align well to consumer needs as well as common barriers experienced by restaurant operators as they digitize and build a competitive advantage for their brand. We look forward to the launch of Coca-Cola’s marketplace, and continuing to foster agile and affordable access to meaningful third-party solutions.”
Coca-Cola’s strategic partnership with Omnivore and the launch of the digital marketplace are important milestones in Coca-Cola’s long-term vision of building a digital ecosystem that connects Coca-Cola, foodservice operators and consumers. This ecosystem, which has been in planning and development over the last two years, will be fueled by proprietary technologies, analytics and tools available only for Coca-Cola customers aimed at optimizing customer business operations and driving their profit growth.
ABOUT THE COCA‑COLA COMPANY
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to the company’s Coca-Cola brands, its portfolio includes some of the world’s most valuable beverage brands, such as AdeS plant-based beverages, Ayataka green tea, Costa coffee, Dasani waters, Del Valle juices and nectars, Fanta, Georgia coffee, Gold Peak teas and coffees, Honest Tea, innocent smoothies and juices, Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drinks, Simply juices, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and ZICO coconut water. It is constantly transforming its portfolio, from reducing sugar in its drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. It is also working to reduce its environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting recycling. With its bottling partners, it employs more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow the company on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
ABOUT OMNIVORE
Omnivore empowers restaurant brands to digitize their guest and operational experience in a meaningful and sustainable way. We deliver an end-to-end suite of solutions built on data and insights that help optimize the essential elements of the digital restaurant experience; online ordering, pay at table, 3rd party delivery, kiosk/digital menu, reservations, loyalty, inventory, labor and analytics. All of these solutions completely integrate into the restaurant POS system for operational efficiency, future agility and leveraging of data. For more information, visit Omnivore.io.
