White Castle onboard as launch partner as Murphy USA starts roll out of autonomous hot food platform
Murphy USA, a retailer of gasoline and convenience merchandise with more than 1,800 stores located primarily in the Southwest, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast United States, has announced an initial roll-out of an autonomous foodservice platform in select larger format stores, providing customers another way to access hot, branded food. The platform, developed by Automated Retail Technologies (ART), will launch featuring hamburger chain White Castle.
“We’re continually evaluating opportunities that create additional value for our customers while building on the strengths that have made Murphy USA successful,” says Scott Woodward, Murphy USA Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer. “This relationship allows us to introduce a new convenience offering informed by customer insights, while maintaining the operational discipline and focus on everyday value. We’re encouraged by the opportunity to drive incremental inside sales, traffic and basket growth.”
“We’ve spent more than a century finding innovative ways to bring our Crave to customers wherever they are,” says Audra Mazzeo, White Castle Vice President of Retail Sales. “This partnership creates a unique opportunity to meet customers during their everyday routines and deliver the White Castle experience in a way that is convenient, fast, and incredibly tasty.”
Customers place orders through a touchscreen interface and receive hot food in approximately two minutes. Behind the scenes, ART’s technology automates preparation, heating, and delivery within a self-contained system. The technology is also designed as a modular, multi-brand platform capable of supporting nationally recognised brands, regional favorites and a variety of food categories over time.
“This partnership is about more than technology,” says David Chessler, Founder at Automated Retail Technologies. “Together with Murphy USA and White Castle, we’re making hot, branded food easier to access in locations where customers already shop every day.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Automation will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
