Photo: Google.com

Chipotle announced Tuesday that it expects same-store sales to fall 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter, which is still the best results they’ve seen in five quarters. Chipotle released their preliminary fourth-quarter results ahead of its presentation Tuesday at the ICR Conference in Orlando, FL. The company will release its full fourth-quarter and fiscal 2016 results on February 2. Chipotle’s stock rose more than 4 percent in early trading Tuesday after the announcement of their 4Q same-store sales. Chipotle expects its operating margin to be 13-14 percent in the fourth quarter. The operator said it saw higher expenses in the quarter than originally forecasted. They also spent more on television advertising in the quarter, and that higher avocado costs led to higher-than-expected food costs. To read more about Chipotles same-store sales click here.

Photo: Grubstreet

We all know incorporating technology into restaurants  is a trend we need to keep up with. Whether it be ordering through an app or having an actual tablet sit at your table so you can order food and pay at your convenience. However, Moley Robotics – a U.K. based company, is taking it to the next level with their robotic chef, Moley. Moley is simply two sleek, humanoid arms that hang above a conventional stovetop. The robot can only make one dish as of right now – crab bisque. The U.K. based company hopes to bring Moley to the market by 2018; with the robot being able to offer more dishes than just crab bisque of course. Moley is projected to cost around $100k by the time it hits the market. To read more about how Moley will actually work click here.

Photo: New York Times

It’s a new year which means new foods trends. Every December public relation firms come out with reports that detail what new food trends to look out for this upcoming year. According to Editor in chief Dana Cowin at Food & Wine, “A good trend list requires everything from data and science to pure intuition.”

Annika Stensson, director of research communications for the National Restaurant Association believes the perfect 2017 food trend would be a fast-casual concept serving dishes with deep, heady African flavors. The dishes would be made with locally produced ingredients. Put this African dish into a bowl and you’ve got yourself another 2017 food trend. One of the top items that users post on Pinterest – which is used by 150 million people a month – are Buddha bowls. Food is bowls is pleasing to the eye and makes a great Instagram picture – and who doesn’t love a great Instagram picture? To read more about the trends of 2017 click here.