Every year CES, organized by the Consumer Technology Association, takes place annually in Las Vegas each January, and is immediately followed by NRF: Retail’s Big Show in New York City the following week. While CES primarily focuses on consumers and personal technology, NRF is a business-to-business (B2B) retail-oriented event.

Joining Rob to discuss and compare their experiences at CES 2024 and NRF 2024 is Armand Rabinowitz, Vice President Digital and Technology at Levy Restaurants. Both Rob and Armand have been attending both events for well over a decade. Describing why it’s important to attend, Armand notes “as there’s more and more technology required to operate any business, especially the foodservice business, it’s important to see what’s out there and cross compare what all these vendors are doing and how they can help your business.”

At CES, transparent LED display technologies were a technology that Armand took note of. These transparent displays are not necessarily new to CES, but sometimes technology exists before its time. Wearables (eyewear, watches), smart ovens and nutritional measurement AI were also notable technologies at CES this year.

Continuing on, the pair talk about their experience at NRF 2024. Despite its title, NRF is indeed a technology-focused show that includes far more than traditional retail. This year, autonomous stores were a big feature in many of the halls, and there was the debut of the Foodservice Innovation Zone where the IFBTA as the NRF’s Concept.

To stay informed about the latest technologies made an impact at CES or NRF, or that may soon impact the foodservice and hospitality industries, tune in to this episode of Accelerate.

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