The road to a smart company canteen: qnips and partners demonstrate the future of catering technology at Internorga 2024 

An image that invites you to visit qnips at Internorga 2024 and introduces the partners and the event date (08.03.2024 - 12.03.24)

qnips, the leading platform for digital solutions in the contract catering industry, is pleased to announce that it will once again be present at Internorga 2024. The fair for the catering, hotel and food service industries will open its doors in Hamburg from 8th to 12th March. Together with three well-known partners – Zuply powered by Innovend, Dishtracker and Matilda Foodtech Germany – qnips will be presenting holistic digital solutions for modern catering

What to look forward to at Internorga 2024:

a chart showing tiles, that each contain the name of one of qnips services or an image of a service being used

Imagine how effortless it can be to manage menus without tedious Excel spreadsheets. That’s exactly what the fascinating qnips X Cloudmenu interface offers. Purchasing, production planning and assortment management can all be done easily, while menus can not only be made visually appealing with just a few clicks, but can also be communicated across multiple channels such as the app, web or signage. And that is just the beginning. 

The qnips X Dishtracker interface takes you into the future of the cashless canteen. Here AI and visual food recognition speed up the checkout process, eliminate queues and give guests valuable time for their lunch break. Just hold a tablet under the camera and pay with digital credit or your payment service provider of choice.

New dimensions for canteen vending

qnips is also proud to present a brand new qnips product: the qnips Vending Unit! This innovative solution enables the simple and efficient digitisation of vending and coffee machines. Instead of having to insert coins, customers can now simply pay at the vending machine using an app. And the best part? The integration works with any type of vending machine, so no expensive new purchases are needed to make the move to digital. With the qnips Vending Unit, upgrading existing hardware is quick and cost-effective. Come and have a cup of coffee at the qnips booth at Internorga and see for yourself!

And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the qnips X Zuply interface is the first to offer a compact, autonomous store for contract catering. This cutting-edge innovation can be used to bridge canteen closing times and create additional catering options. Guests authenticate via app and their smart shopping experience begins. The store automatically recognises which products the guest has selected and when they leave the store, the shopping basket in the app is automatically closed and billed. 

Another exciting project at Internorga 2024 is the filming of a new story about qnips catering manager George Thompson. George Thompson is already known from the qnips image film and will now be at the centre of a new story to be filmed at the fair. 

Statements about the Internorga

We are delighted to once again present innovative solutions for modern contract catering at Internorga 2024 with three great partners,” says Christian Brützel, founder of qnips. “The digitization of company canteens continues to be an important topic, and we are proud to be at the forefront of shaping the future of the industry.” 

With the cooperation of this year’s three exhibition partners, we have the opportunity to show our customers and visitors once again that digitization has something in store for all sizes of business. From simple management and display of menus and marketing content to extensions for a smart point-of-sale and a fully autonomous canteen, we have the right solution for every business,” emphasises Business Development Manager Kenji Koch. 

You are welcome to visit qnips and all its partners for a personal meeting at booth A2.306. If you are unable to come for a visit on site, you can also take a virtual tour of the booth.  


About Matilda Foodtech: 

Matilda Foodtech develops innovative IT solutions for contract catering to make all processes healthy, safe, sustainable and economical. The aim is to enable people to eat well, regardless of age and health, and to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. With 110 employees in seven locations, Matilda FoodTech is a strong partner in Northern Europe. More about Matilda Foodtech 

About Dishtracker: 

Founded in Vienna in 2019, Dishtracker is a leading provider of food recognition solutions for the catering industry. Its main goal is to make everyday life easier through innovative technologies. With a strong focus on innovation and customer centricity, they develop customised solutions and have already enabled over 12 million successful checkouts. Dishtracker shares the goal of revolutionising the catering industry and looks forward to helping shape the future of contract catering. More about Dishtracker 

About Innovend:

Innovend provides intelligent unmanned sales and pickups solutions for various markets. Its own software and hardware offers a wide range of modular solutions that can be combined in various ways and linked to third party applications. Under the Zuply brand, Innovend offers innovative solutions for healthy catering in the workplace. Its unmanned vending machines are available 24/7 and allow employees to order meals in advance and pick them up fresh. More about Zuply

About qnips: 

As a cloud-based catering platform, qnips helps companies streamline and digitise their catering management, for example by automating ordering and payment processes, creating digital menus and designing marketing content that can be delivered directly to app, web and digital signage. The platform simplifies allergen labelling, analysis of relevant data on ordering and consumption patterns, and canteen guest satisfaction. As a result, processes can be digitised and time and resources can be used more efficiently. More about qnips

Whitelabel catering apps from qnips modernise contract catering

Ansicht verschiedener Screens aus der qnips Gastro-App

Successful canteens use catering apps to make as many processes as possible as simple as possible. Contract catering is no exception.

Or at least it shouldn’t be.

Yet every day, thousands of catering managers around the world wonder how they are going to print all their menus on time and distribute them by hand around their facilities. They ponder whether to reprint all their menus at short notice or rewrite them in pencil. They struggle with whether to take food orders by email and painstakingly enter them into Excel spreadsheets, or to print the spreadsheets, distribute them and collect them throughout the day because they have to.

A digital solution could obviously save a lot of time and money, but questions like “Where do I get it? “How do I make sure it covers all my needs?” and “Is it right for my business?” get in the way of implementation.

Catering apps offer you a wide range of features!

This is where we at qnips come in and provide you with exactly the answers you are looking for. qnips offers catering apps that allow your customers to

  • View menus for multiple locations online,
  • Place and manage orders and track their collection status,
  • Leave reviews of dishes and the canteen
  • Receive information from the canteen directly as a notification in the app,
  • Make contactless payments directly in the app or automatically.

As a caterer, you can also send news, announcements and special offers to your customers quickly and easily via the app. You can automatically receive, organise and manage orders in the central dashboard.

Both the reporting functions (automatic collection of all relevant sales and interaction data for your products, available to you at any time) and the integrated stock management, which allows you to keep track of your stock, help you do this.

Choose between catering apps that you can access on Android or iOs devices such as mobile phones or tablets, and apps that you can access as websites on all Internet-enabled devices such as computers. All this speeds up and simplifies organisational processes in the catering business, which means also your customers will be happier.

Three examples of how you can customise qnips applications
One app – 3 different configurations of the individual modules

Build your own customised catering app!

The special thing about qnips products is that they can be tailored to your individual needs. This means that you are not tied to an off-the-shelf solution, but can decide for yourself, module by module, which features your catering app should have and which not. The building blocks are the above-mentioned functions of the catering app, such as the ordering system, feedback feature, content manager and mobile payment. You can also add or remove modules after your catering app is complete, just as your business needs them.

Importantly, you don’t have to take these steps alone. Part of the app development service is full project support from qnips project managers. They will advise and assist you in all matters relating to your catering app and then take over the building, support and customisation to your corporate identity.

What does “white label” mean?

qnips helps you to get a catering app that is functionally adapted to your needs. But is it YOUR app? Yes, absolutely!

An important part of qnip’s products is whitelabelling. Whitelabelling means that a product is designed in such a way that we seamlessly integrate elements relevant to branding and corporate identity (such as logos, colour accents or product labels) into your app without applying our own qnips labels.

This means that no one but you will know which technology partner is behind the app. That great app from the flagship canteen of a famous institution that you admired the other day? Who knows, maybe qnips is behind it.

qnips helps you to get a catering app that is functionally adapted to your needs.

We can help you create your own Catering app!

As you can see, the answers to the questions “Where can I get an app?”, “How do I make sure it covers all my needs?” and “Is it right for my business?” are answered quite quickly. We are there for you with our qnips apps, our customisation services and our white-labelling options!

If you would like to find out more about our apps or how to make your existing qnips app even better, why not arrange a consultation today by emailing info@qnips.io. Or by contacting your contact person directly.

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qnips presents innovations at Intergastra 2024 in Stuttgart

qnips at Intergastra

Hanover, 16.01.2024 – qnips GmbH is pleased to announce its participation at Intergastra 2024, one of the leading trade fairs for the catering and hotel industry. The exhibition will take place from 03 to 07 February in Stuttgart.

Following its successful appearance at Horecava in Amsterdam, qnips is continuing its trade fair presence in 2024 and will also be presenting its catering platform at Intergastra. The platform, which specialises in the digitization of contract catering and the optimisation of processes in the cateen, was already very well received at Horecava.

We are delighted to be able to present our platform live at Intergastra for the first time this year and to strengthen our role in the digitization of contract catering. Our participation at Horecava in Amsterdam was extremely positive, with the industry showing great interest in our self-checkout and Smart ePaper integrations. We are confident that Intergastra will also provide an excellent platform to present our innovative solutions to a wider audience,” says Kenji Koch, Team Lead Business Development at qnips.

Smart partnerships for catering innovation: qnips, KOST and Delicious Data live at Intergastra 2024

qnips will be present together with two partner companies. In cooperation with KOST, visitors will be able to experience the latest developments in enterprise resource planning and POS systems live. Together with Delicious Data, an innovative solution for sustainability will be presented. The platform enables canteens to use artificial intelligence to lower the cost of goods and reduce food waste. In addition, qnips will show how this data from enterprise resource planning and sustainability can be combined to create attractive menus for the app, web and digital signage.

Visit qnips, KOST & Delicious Data at Intergastra 2024 at booth 4D52. Kenji Koch will also be happy to talk to you in person, just send him an email (kenji.koch@qnips.io). For further information and press enquiries please contact:

Nathalie Schneider
Marketing Manager
nathalie.schneider@qnips.io

About qnips:

As a cloud-based catering platform, qnips helps companies optimise and digitize their catering management, for example by automating ordering and payment processes, creating digital menus and designing marketing content that can be delivered directly to the app, web and digital signage. The platform simplifies allergen labelling, analysis of relevant data on ordering and consumption patterns, and canteen guest satisfaction. As a result, processes can be digitised and time and resources can be used more efficiently. More about qnips

About KOST:

KOST Warenwirtschaft & Mehr offers efficient and seamless handling of all relevant processes and provides all information from procurement to quality management and from production to administration. Through a constant exchange of information and experience, the software is continuously developed and adapted to the needs of the company and the requirements of the market. Overview of KOST software solutions: ERP, cashless payment systems, web portal, cash registers, pre-order system & sustainability. More about KOST

About Delicious Data:

About Delicious Data:

Founded by Valentin Belser and Jakob Breuninger, Delicious Data is a pioneer in intelligent planning optimisation for food companies. Using Delicious Data’s AI, customers can reduce avoidable food losses and increase operational efficiency. By December 2022, approximately 600 tonnes will have been saved, equivalent to a reduction of more than 787 tonnes of CO2e equivalent. More about Delicious Data

Conference Catering | Discover the qnips ordering system for meetings!

Ordering and providing snacks and drinks for meetings and conferences can be a stressful task. But with the right tool, it can be a quick and easy process that ensures meetings and conferences are a complete success. Find out how qnips conference ordering can help you organise your conference catering and make all the preparations via the intuitive qnips dashboard. How does it work? See for yourself:

Conference catering with a wide selection of food and drinks!

What your employees see:

Your sales manager wants to have an all-day meeting with colleagues next week to review the last quarter. The coworking space in the building has already been reserved. Now the team leader wants to take care of the snacks for his team and navigates in the catering portal to the menu that has been set up especially for meetings and con-ferences. He orders some snacks and a selection of drinks for everyone.

What your kitchen staff sees:

As the kitchen manager, you have created a special menu for meetings and conferences with just a few clicks. Here you have provided a selection of snacks, main courses, desserts and drinks that can be pre-ordered for meetings. You also have full control of the stock management.

Central dashboard for efficient attendee management & seamless room allocation:

What your employees see:

When ordering, the team lead can designate the coworking space as a meeting room and specify how many people will attend and how long the event is expected to last.

What your kitchen staff sees:

The qnips dashboard gives you an overview of all attendees and allows you to add notes about any incompatibilities. You can also manage all available rooms and store additional information such as capacity.

Smooth running of the event thanks to streamlined event tracking:

What your employees see:

The team lead can also specify that food is not delivered until around 11am, when the first short break takes place. This way, the daily schedule of the event is not interrupted.

What your kitchen staff sees:

The qnips dashboard provides you with a calen-dar to keep track of all current and planned events.

Transparent cost overview, including ancillary and delivery costs, as well as cost centre billing:

What your employees see:

The shopping basket gives the team lead a detailed overview of all costs, including delivery and ancillary costs, allowing them to adhere to the internally approved budget per person.

Finally, the sales manager selects the option to receive a hospitality voucher and specifies the cost centre to facilitate later accounting by the accounting department.

What your kitchen staff sees:

With qnip conference ordering, you can easily include the cost of delivery and any ancillary costs such as crockery or cleaning services in the order. This allows you to provide your employees with a transparent cost overview.

The order reporting in the qnips dashboard provides a detailed listing of all accounting-relevant data, including details of the cost centres used, information about the event and the products ordered, and much more.


qnips Conference Catering is a brand new feature that will help you make your events a success and impress your guests with first class conference catering. For more information, visit our website or email us with your questions!

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Internorga 2023 | qnips: passion for innovation live on display

Internorga 2023 is behind us and we are grateful for the many great impressions, visions and concepts that we were able to experience and take home with us.

Inspired by the strong performance of our partners, we have once again created a booth concept that fills us with pride and clearly reflects our identity. The concrete idea behind our booth is quite simple: visitors enter a state-of-the-art, fully digitised company canteen. Accompanied by our great staff, they will be able to discover and experience live different scenarios called “Journeys”.

The “Aitme” Journey

It’s simple: open the qnips app and navigate to the Aitme Robotic Kitchen menu. You select one of the available dishes, customise the ingredients if you wish, and place your desired dish in the shopping basket.

Robotic kitchen in a canteen

Once you have placed your order, something extraordinary happens! It is not the kitchen staff that prepares the food, but an autonomous robot. This robot can produce more than 80 different dishes, and more than 60 of them per hour! Due to lack of space on our booth, this robot was not live, but a video screen from booth partner Aitme gave an overview of the rest of the preparation process.

The „Innovend“ Journey

The halls at Internorga 2023 also allowed us to present larger showcases, one of which is the Innovend Journey. Again, you open the qnips app and select the Lock-Blox menu. The kitchen team then takes the order, prepares the food and – this is where it gets exciting – delivers it to a locker called a ‘Lock-Blox’.

A Lock-Blox can be roughly explained as follows: A large locker with individual compartments and cooling elements. The compartments can be opened individually via an app and filled. The aim of the system is to streamline the preparation and collection of food. Employees order their meals and can reliably collect them at a later time of their choosing. This optimises production planning, as only the food actually ordered is placed in the box. Less waste, more tasty food.

Less food waste thanks to accurate production planning

But what happens if a meal is cancelled? The Lock-Blox trays use coloured LEDs to indicate whether a meal is ready for collection, hot, cold or, in the case of a cancellation, ready for sale. It looks good, tastes good and helps the environment.

Smart Locker at the Internorga

The LinX iQ aka “Smart Fridge” is even more flexible than the Lock-Blox. A credit card stored in the qnips app is used to generate a QR code that opens the Smart Fridge. The fridge-like vending machine looks like the vending machines you see at train stations and swimming pools. But instead of waiting for a metal crane, conveyor belt or spiral to collect products for customers, they simply reach into the Smart Fridge and take what they need. Using internal sensors such as weight scales or NFC scanners, the fridge recognises which and how many products have been removed. It then adds them to your shopping basket in the app and triggers the automatic payment process as soon as you close the door. The fact that you feel like you’re stealing something, especially the first time you use it, is a testament to how simple the process is.

The „Order Kiosk“ Journey

Ordering and working with the qnips app is fun and very easy. However, sometimes we also need on-site ordering options, for example to ensure better legibility, faster order processing or the ability to order without a smartphone. At our booth at Internorga 2023, we demonstrated this with an ordering kiosk system using Pan Oston hardware. In combination with qnips, the hardware combines menu display, shopping cart, product scanning and self-service checkout in a compact, locally mounted interface.

On this interface, customers can touch select their meal, order it and send it to the kitchen. When the order is received by the kitchen, an order receipt is printed with the order details. As soon as they start preparing the food, it can be scanned into our Kitchen Monitor and given the status ‘in progress’. The monitor provides the kitchen with an easy-to-read list of which orders are at which stage of preparation.

Easy order processing in the kitchen

However, a simple screen can easily be overlooked in the heat of the kitchen battle. That’s why our Kitchen Monitor is connected to a signal lamp that lights up in three colours, flashes and buzzes when the order phase changes. The kitchen is now well informed, but what about the waiting customers?

Vestaboard showing the orders in preparation

Our booth this year featured the “Vestaboard”, an analogue-mechanical display board like the ones you see in airports and train stations. (The ones that sound a bit like fluttering pigeons when you change the display. Or maybe there are real pigeons at the station that sound like that. Who knows?) This board displays orders in order of processing status, effectively changing the display with each update. In this way, guests can follow the status of their order in real time. For those who are not yet convinced by the clattering analogue charm of the Vestaboard, there is of course also a regular digital pick-up monitor – after all, eating should be fun for everyone.

The “qnips App Redesign” Journey

You’ve probably noticed that our mobile app is a recurring topic in this blog post. This is not only because our apps are the heart of our software, but also because we were proud to present the redesign of our qnips app at Internorga. You could see our new design for IOs and Android on several test devices. And it gets even better: in the future, this design will also characterise all other qnips-related mobile applications.

As part of the redesign, we are also introducing our 14 redesigned allergen icons in our app and on the Catering Portal. These are different in shape and colour from the current icons and help to make the allergens easier to identify.

What we have learned from Internorga 2023

The end of each Internorga always means preparing for the next one. That’s why we’re looking forward to presenting what we’re burning for next year: Innovative software, accessible, elegant hardware and a team that is passionate and knowledgeable about all of this. Many good and intensive discussions have shown that the digitalisation of company catering is not just a trendy topic.

qnips says thank you and is looking forward to the next Internorga together!

For more information visit www.qnips.io

Less waiting, more efficiency: qnips and CashControl simplify payment in the canteen

Hamburg, 14th March 2023

At the latest since the Corona pandemic, the use of cash is gradually fading into the background in Germany. At this year’s Internorga, qnips therefore focused on cashless payment alternatives for company canteens. In cooperation with CashControl, a company that specialises in accounting and cash register software, an example of a cashless canteen was presented at the trade fair.

A feature that benefits everyone!

The integration of CashControl’s POS software into the qnips platform offers canteen guests a digital all-in-one solution for the entire process, from food overview and selection to payment. The required credit can be easily topped up on a smartphone in advance, so that all that is needed to pay for the food is to scan a QR code from the app at the POS. Or, for those who prefer analogue payment, a prepaid card can be used, which is then scanned at the POS. Cashless payment saves employees long queues at the checkout and ensures a more relaxing lunch break because it is used more effectively. At the same time, cashless payment has a positive effect on staffing levels, as there is less need for cashiers, who can then provide support in other areas.

qnips x CashControl: Shared innovation in payments

We are very happy about the partnership with CashControl. It allows us to always offer our customers a personalised payment option. Be it via an analogue employee card, scanning a QR code or the classic credit or debit card,” says Christian Brützel, owner of qnips GmbH. Claus Studener, Managing Director of CashControl, is equally satisfied: “Through the various customer cases of qnips, we are constantly broadening our horizons and becoming aware of new features. An example of this is the credit system that we were able to integrate together with one of the largest catering companies in Europe.”

About qnips

qnips is a cloud-based catering platform that helps businesses improve and digitise their catering operations. qnips automates ordering and payment processes, creates digital menus and designs marketing content that can be delivered directly to apps, web and digital signage. The platform simplifies allergen labelling and the analysis of relevant data on ordering and consumption patterns, as well as customer satisfaction. As a result, processes can be digitised and time and resources can be used more efficiently.

About CashControl

CashControl has been developing specialised cashless accounting and cash register software for community and professional catering since 1991. Their special focus is on cashless accounting at the point of sale. The CashControl cash register software works with the most modern, contact-free media and chip cards.

Press contact:
qnips GmbH
Nathalie Schneider
+49 511 – 165899-0
nathalie.schneider@qnips.io

Smart solutions for the canteen: the “Smart Locker” revolutionises contract catering

smart locker

Hamburg, 14 March 2023

Round-the-clock catering and smart lockers were once again a hot topic at this year’s Internorga in Hamburg. Catering platform qnips and its stand partner Innovend gave an impressive demonstration of what modern employee catering can look like with intelligent vending solutions.

qnips and Innovend create a modern guest experience featuring a smart locker integration

The collaboration between qnips and Innovend is intended to pave the way for modern and time-independent employee catering. In the best practice example presented at the Internorga, employees can pre-order meals online via an app or web portal. The qnips platform gives them a direct overview of the ingredients, allergens and carbon footprint of the meals on offer. The order is placed by selecting a day of the week and a time when the order should be available in the smart locker. At the requested time, employees can log in to the locker using the QR code or PIN from the order and collect the food.

woman takes water bottle out of a smart fridge

Employees on shift duty also benefit thanks to the use of a smart locker

This gives companies the opportunity to offer food on less busy days or to provide staff meals without having their own canteen,” emphasises Kenji Koch, Sales and Business Development Manager at qnips. In addition to lunchtime meals, cold snacks and sandwiches can also be offered. This also benefits employees on large factory sites, for example, who can be supplied decentrally and at any time during shift work with smart lockers. “In our Zuply Lockbloxes, the food can not only be kept refrigerated, but the integration of a microwave module also allows the food to be heated up afterwards,” explains Sander Sciarone Managing Director of Innovend Vending Solutions. Innovend’s Lockboxes can be assembled modularly according to the caterer’s needs and flexibly integrated into the qnips platform.

About qnips:

As a cloud-based catering platform, qnips helps companies improve and digitise their catering management. qnips is automating ordering and payment processes, creating digital menus and designing marketing content that can be delivered directly to the app, web and digital signage. The platform simplifies allergen labelling, analysis of relevant data on ordering and consumption patterns, and customer satisfaction. In this way, processes can be digitised and time and resources can be used in a more efficient way.

About Innovend:

Innovend offers Smart unmanned vend and intake solutions for various markets. Its own software and hardware offers a wide range of modular (breeze) solutions that can be combined in various ways and can be connected with third party applications.

Press contact:
qnips GmbH
Nathalie Schneider
+49 511 – 165899-0
nathalie.schneider@qnips.io

Intelligent NFC technologies create conditions for a cashless company canteen

Smartphone is scanning a digital price tag via NFC

Hamburg, 14 March 2023

This year’s Internorga in Hamburg once again showcased the latest trends and innovations in the catering industry. Impressive was the best practice example of a completely cashless canteen in the course of the cooperation between the catering platform qnips and the NFC technologies of Opticon. The aim of the cooperation is to create a seamless digital process flow in the company canteen thanks to the integration of NFC-enabled digital price tags.

A great dining experience for guests through the use of NFC technologies

In the Digitisation Hall at Internorga, qnips GmbH presented modern features for the digitization of company catering. With the ePaper Displays from Opticon it is possible to create a completely cashless canteen thanks to modern NFC technologies. NFC-enabled price tags in the form of ePaper Displays are used for this purpose. Via the qnips catering app, the guests of the company canteen receive an overview of the canteen’s daily or weekly offers. In addition, they receive all important information about allergens and nutritional values directly for the respective product. Once on site, the selected dishes can simply be scanned with the app. Contactless data exchange between the ePaper display and the smartphone adds the meal directly to the app’s shopping basket. Payment is then made conveniently via the mobile payment provider in the app, so that guests do not have to wait long at the checkout.

Digital price tags on a retail shelf

Enhancing the appreciation of work-life balance during the lunch break  

With the Scan & Go feature, we enable guests to save a massive amount of time during their lunch break. By simply scanning and paying, guests effectively get more out of their lunch break because they don’t spend half the time waiting in line at the food counter or cash register,” emphasizes Christian Brützel, owner of qnips GmbH. In recent years, the importance of work-life balance has increased significantly among employees. This also includes a restful and relaxed lunch break with colleagues. “By integrating our hardware with the qnips platform, we create a completely cashless canteen and thus a fast and smooth process flow at the food counter,” says Dick de Haas, Sales Manager at Opticon. The Scan & Go system is already successfully in use at one of the largest Dutch caterers. 

About qnips 

As a cloud-based catering platform, qnips supports companies in optimizing and digitizing their catering management, by automating ordering and payment processes, creating digital menus and designing marketing content that can be delivered directly to app, web and digital signage. The platform simplifies allergen labelling, as well as the evaluation of relevant data on ordering and consuming behaviour and the satisfaction of canteen guests. In this way, processes can be digitized, and time and resources can be used more efficiently. 

About Opticon 

Dutch hardware manufacturer Opticon has been developing intelligent barcode scanning solutions for a wide range of industries and markets since 1976. From electronic shelf labels in the local supermarket to NFC-enabled price tags in the company canteen, the company produces internationally leading hardware. Opticon manufactures its products in ISO 9001 certified facilities and works to international standards for quality, safety, and environmental protection. 

Press contact: 
qnips GmbH  
Nathalie Schneider  
+49 511 ‒ 165899-0   
nathalie.schneider@qnips.io

Robotic Kitchen and Catering Platform create workload relief for canteen staff

Robotic kitchen in a canteen

Hamburg, 14th March 2023

At this year’s Internorga, qnips GmbH once again presented the latest innovations in the field of digitisation in contract catering. The focus of the exhibition was the cooperation with the Berlin start-up Aitme. Aitme builds a kitchen robot for use in staff catering. Aitme and qnips are working together on an interface between the robot kitchen and the qnips catering platform. The aim is to make ordering more flexible and convenient for guests.

A forward-thinking collaboration for a digital customer experience in the canteen

At the qnips booth, Internorga visitors were able to experience how easy it is to order food from the Robotic Kitchen via an app or web portal. The qnips app allows a simple selection of different meals, including allergen labelling. Meals can be easily customised when ordering and pre-ordered for a desired time. Payment is made via a mobile payment provider or by using credit in the qnips app. Guests then collect the freshly prepared meal directly from the kitchen robot. Authentication is done via QR code or PIN from the order.

App with menu

Kitchen robot addresses lack of qualified staff and new working habits

The Corona pandemic has ensured that the effects of a lack of qualified staff and hybrid working models are creating ever greater challenges in the catering industry. “Many company caterers are telling us about a shortage of staff. Hybrid working models with home office regulations make it difficult to forecast consumption accurately,” says Kenji Koch, Business Development Manager at qnips. In order to provide catering for employees on less busy days or in locations without their own canteen, qnips is currently working on integrating the Aitme Robotic Kitchen.

The Robotic Kitchen is a flexible catering option in times of home office and new work. It enables round-the-clock food supply and optimal use of short break times through pre-ordering and pre-production,” says Laura Wulff, Head of Sales & Business Development at Aitme. Minimal space requirements and comparatively low investment costs ensure that kitchen robots are increasingly coming to the fore in the industry. The Robotic Kitchen offers more than 80 different meals – from Currywurst Bowl to Pasta Dishes or Caeser Salad. This cooperation between qnips and Aitme has already resulted in concrete projects using the Robotic Kitchen in well-known company canteens.

About qnips

qnips is a cloud-based catering platform that helps businesses improve and digitise their catering operations. qnips automates ordering and payment processes, creates digital menus and designs marketing content that can be delivered directly to apps, web and digital signage. The platform simplifies allergen labelling and the analysis of relevant data on ordering and consumption patterns, as well as customer satisfaction. As a result, processes can be digitised and time and resources can be used more efficiently.

About Aitme

The Aitme robot can be operated cost-effectively and with low staffing requirements. It provides a simple 24/7 solution that works during off-peak hours and at night. The Robotic Kitchen can be integrated into an existing canteen or operated as a stand-alone solution in locations without catering facilities.

Press contact:
qnips GmbH
Nathalie Schneider
+49 511 – 165899-0
nathalie.schneider@qnips.io

The Yummy Case – Cashless payment for modern company canteens

The YUMMY App by Albron

Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly important to offer contactless and cashless payment methods. Especially in gastronomic businesses, such as modern company canteens or restaurants, guests increasingly expect a modern and digital customer journey. A cashless canteen is not only more hygienic, but also more efficient and faster in the processing of payment transactions. In this way, digitisation in company catering can serve as an opportunity to further develop the user journey and effectively design processes. We took the first step, with a completely cashless canteen, together with one of the largest Dutch caterers – Albron BV.

By combining the qnips platform with Albron’s YUMMY app and the ePaper Displays from Opticon, a modern case for a cashless and user-friendly canteen with various ordering, payment and rating features was created.

Usability and functionality – the YUMMY Case features

After downloading the YUMMY app, in the Apple or Google Play Store, the user receives a short onboarding for all basic features. As soon as the respective location has been activated, all dishes for the current week are displayed at a glance. The user can then decide in advance which dish he or she would like to enjoy at lunchtime. In addition, all important information on ingredients, allergens and nutritional values is available in the detailed view of the dishes. In case of intolerances, dishes can be easily filtered and excluded according to these criteria. Registered app users can also set an allergen alert for certain ingredients. When visiting the canteen, the selected dish is scanned directly via the app on the corresponding ePaper display at the food counter and automatically ends up in the shopping trolley.

All features in one app

The order can be completed by paying for the lunch via the app. With the selected payment service provider or with the credit system, there is no need to wait long at the checkout, so guests can enjoy a longer and more relaxed lunch break. With use of the app, the user receives various coupons with offers and discounts and can collect loyalty points with a digital punch card. In addition, all the latest news and announcements from the canteen can be viewed in the app. Another way to be up to date at all times are the push notifications of news directly in the inbox. While the user is looking at all the dishes on offer, he or she can also give a rating for the dish that tasted best. They can either award stars or write a comment with product-specific feedback.

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Innovations & interfaces for cashless payment in modern company canteens

A project like this requires reliable partners and innovative interfaces that interact smoothly with each other. Albron uses the qnips platform to import data from the merchandise management system Delegate – which are then made available for use in the YUMMY app.

In order to make the payment process as simple and convenient as possible for Albron’s guests and employees, Albron integrated the payment service providerAdyen – into the YUMMY app using the qnips platform. With Adyen, Albron has a reliable partner at its side with whom secure online and offline payments are possible worldwide. In the future, other payment service providers from the Netherlands will be available for our customers and business partners, such as Rabobank. The project was supported by our Dutch partner and food consultant Fooditis. The company advises clients on the choice of a wide range of solutions, such as food management systems, communication tools or digital signage concepts. With the tool “BrightGreen”, Fooditis can also calculate the CO2 impact of your products as well as your entire menu range.

Scan & Go in the YUMMY Case!

Select, scan and enjoy. This simple Scan & Go principle is possible thanks to the interface with Opticon. With the new ePaper technology, dishes can be scanned directly at the buffet via the app. Via NFC (Near Field Communication), a contactless data exchange takes place between the ePaper display and the app. This way, the selected meal automatically ends up in the guests’ shopping cart. The guest can pick up the food and pay for it conveniently via app at the lunch table.

“The qnips platform helps us gain real insights into what customers actually want.” emphasises Ernest van de Voort (Manager of Business Development, Marketing and Concept-Development) in the qnips x Albron video about the YUMMY Case. Automation at the point of sale saves time and costs, and with the help of the collected customer feedback, processes and the food offer can be improved in the long term. At the same time, trends in customer behaviour can be recognised earlier, measured more easily and used more quickly. Company canteens can thus benefit from the collected data and react proactively.

You can find more Best Practices on cashless payment here!

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