Issue #103
Megan Hotson
03/18/22
Welcome to your weekly dose of TooXToo, this week featuring Burger King’s flagship vegan trial, Boxy’s un-manned mini marts, Deliveroo’s own-range cereal, and Royal mail’s interactive postage stamps…
Burger King’s flagship goes vegan…
Did someone say… plant-based chilli-cheese bites? Vegans, vegetarians and the plant-curious can now revel in a fully plant-based menu at the Leicester square flagship until April 10th.
To attract existing herbivores and encourage any carnivores passing by – the fast-food operator has changed its storefront logo to green and has been gifting free vegan royale chicken burgers to anyone that has ordered through the Burger King app.
New additions to the ‘green menu’ include the bakon double cheeze XL, the vegan cheeze and bakon royale, the vegan nugget burger, the vegan chilli cheeze bites and the bakon double XL. No beef in sight. The burger aficionado chain outlined earlier this year they aspire to be 50% meat-free by 2030 after launching their vegan nuggets this January.
Despite the vegan trial of Burger King’s flagship only lasting for a month, it might just be the beginning of the ‘plantification’ of London’s fast-food scene.
There is a clear consumer appetite for meat-free meals. A report released by Sainsbury’s has estimated that by 2025, vegans and vegetarians will constitute a quarter of the British population, whilst flexitarians would make up just under half. A barrier identified by many consumers to plant-based eating is the price of meat alternatives – Burger king wants to combat this by making plant-based options more affordable, and accessible to the public.
This month-long campaign also doubles up as an effective marketing stunt and will allow Burger king to assess which vegan items should be a permeant feature on their normal menus to continue attracting herbivores into their fast-food havens.
Boxy's un-manned mini mart
Enter - Boxy's solution for consumers who might not have easy access to basic groceries: their automated and un-manned commerce mini mart’s. These mini marts popping up around France are fuchsia-coloured shipping containers and sell 250 different grocery items.
Customers simply download the Boxy app before scanning a QR code to enter one of these re-purposed shipping containers. The smart technology used means that any time a customer picks up a product, it is identified using computer vision and weight sensors on the shelves. When exiting, customers then re-scan their QR code, checking out automatically.
Boxy’s founders David Gabai and Tom Hayat have said thar these modular Boxy marts strive to bridge the gap between supermarkets, specialty shops, and delivery services. “With every other shopping experience, there is compromise (…) supermarkets are cheap but often far… smaller convenience stores are close by but expensive. Delivery services are convenient, but there’s a waiting time, a fee, and they’re not available everywhere. Very few are open 24/7.”
These boxy mini marts also utilise AI algorithms to offer discounts or special offers based on consumer behaviour or spending habits. Not only are Boxy tapping into the consumer desire for an omni-channel retail experience, but also the demand for a personalised shopping journey.
Deliveroo’s own-range cereal
Food delivery wizards Deliveroo have used their expertise and knowledge in the take-away department to create their own range of cereals… They have re-imagined a food category that is traditionally sweet, to bring consumers a savoury, take-away-inspired breakfast option, for one day only.
“DeliverOO’s” limited-edition cereal range is available in three “takeaway-flavoured” SKUs: Sushi Roll, Margherita Pizza and Chicken Katsu Curry. The products were launched to celebrate national cereal day (7th March) - according to a Deliveroo spokesperson, the aim was to allow people to "take a break from cereal monogamy".
At just £1 per box and a maximum of two boxes per order- consumers battled to get their hands on the quirky newcomer to the cereal market on national cereal day. The selection of flavours reportedly went down well with consumers, despite tricking people’s tastebuds.
This is not the first 0wn-range product Deliveroo has created; last June, Deliveroo released cans of alphabet soup containing only the letters LGBTQQIAAP to “celebrate and raise awareness of the broad spectrum of identities”. Like the cereal boxes, the soup cans were only £1 a piece with all proceeds going towards telephone helpline Switchboard LGBT+.
The perfect bowl that could be had for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Who doesn’t want to indulge in their favourite takeaway… with a splash of milk?
Royal Mail’s interactive postage stamps
Royal mail has created new stamps with barcodes allowing people to watch videos or see messages from senders by simply scanning the stamps via the Royal Mail app.
The decision by Royal Mail to make their stamps interactive in this way was inspired by a desire to connect letters with the digital world. The barcodes will be featured on so-called "definitive" stamps – the everyday stamps that show a picture of the Queen’s side profile.
Royal Mail’s chief commercial officer, Nick Landon commented on the new stamps: "Introducing unique barcodes on our postage stamps allows us to connect the physical letter with the digital world and opens up the possibilities for a range of new innovative services in future."
Royal mail has said that the unique barcodes integrated onto each stamp will facilitate operational efficiencies, enable the introduction of added security features as well as pave the way for innovative services for their customers.
Any non-barcoded stamps will be gradually phased out but will still be usable until 31 January 2023. People will also be able to exchange non-barcoded for the new barcoded version through Royal Mail’s ‘Swap Out’ scheme opening on 31st March 2022.
