KFC-owner Yum Brands just made its biggest move in a year: Taco Bell 2.0

Crunchy on the outside... techy on the inside. Yum Brands is the fast-food icon that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell (aka: Ken-taco-hut). Since digital orders surged during the pandemic, Yum is becoming less fry cook, more Tim Cook. It just made its second tech acquisition in less than a month:

• Tictuk: Not a typo. Tictuk is the hilariously-named Israeli startup that lets you order food from social media and messaging apps (but is there a TikTok integration?).
• Yum bought Tictuk to capitalize on “conversational commerce," which makes ordering a Crunchwrap Supreme as easy as sending a text (or a FB message).

Techy and I know it... Yum's digital sales in 2020 hit a record of $17B, up ~45% from 2019. Now it's doubling down on tech. We know that because its CFO said "omnichannel" and "frictionless" in the same sentence (describing its ordering strategy). It's also apparent in Taco Bell's futuristic makeover:

• "Go Mobile": Taco Bell's digital-focused new restaurant design. It includes: dual drive-thrus, smaller dining rooms, curbside pickup, and "bellhops" taking orders on digital tablets. TB is planning to expand "Go Mobile" nationwide, for at least 30 locations by the end of 2021.