What’s new in Toast (Sep 2026): Changemakers grants, Kung Fu Tea rollout, and Toast Fuel

1. Six changes a restaurant GM should act on (primary)

What it is: From Toast’s September announcements, these six need a decision: (1) order-ready texts for orders created on the Toast POS app — takeout and curbside guests can now get a text when you tap Order Ready, off by default (product update, 17 Sep); (2) kitchen labels follow item routing rules when you fire held items from an expediter KDS, on POS v2.117 (product update, 24 Sep); (3) a location confirmation popup for your online ordering page, so guests confirm which location they are ordering from (product update, 25 Sep); (4) Toast Changemakers grants — $10,000 each for 15 U.S. restaurants fighting food insecurity, open to non-Toast customers (press release, 10 Sep); (5) Kung Fu Tea’s rollout across 330+ locations on Toast Flex 3 terminals with a Guest Facing Display, Toast payment processing, and KDS at select locations — a reference for multi-unit brands (press release, 16 Sep); and (6) Toast Fuel for convenience stores that also run a food program, with Toast IQ answering questions across fuel, retail, and food (press release, 29 Sep).

2. Order-ready texts from the POS app (17 Sep)

What it is: The 17 September product update says guests can get an order-ready text for takeout and curbside orders created on the Toast POS app when staff select Order Ready on the Orders Hub or Payment Terminal screens. It is off by default: in Toast Web, go to Takeout & Delivery > Orders Hub > Order ready guest messaging. Toast notes that if you also text guests when the kitchen fulfills a ticket on a KDS, guests get two texts — it recommends one method, not both. The update lists the USA, rolling out from 17 September.

Decide which screen owns the guest text — the KDS or the Orders Hub — and write it on the expo checklist.

3. Kitchen labels and the online-ordering popup (24–25 Sep)

What it is: The 24 September update says firing a held item from an expediter KDS now respects your dining-option item routing rules, so labels no longer print when a rule suppresses them (POS v2.117; Toast suggests verifying in Test Mode). The 25 September update adds an optional popup that asks a guest who reached your online ordering page from anywhere other than the location picker to confirm the location — Toast says it cuts down on orders placed at the wrong location; available at all locations as of 17 September.

Both are small settings with real costs when wrong: a label printed for a dine-in item, or a pickup order sent to the other store.

4. Toast Changemakers grants (10 Sep)

What it is: The 10 September release says Toast will award $150,000 in grants — $10,000 each to 15 U.S. restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and bars running community feeding efforts — with partners Hello Alice and Global Entrepreneurship Network, open to non-Toast customers. As of the program page (updated 9 October 2026), applications are closed as of 8 October 2026 (extended from the original 1 October deadline), and applicants hear by email in mid-November.

This is not a product change. It matters if you applied, or if your restaurant runs a feeding program and wants to apply next year.

5. Kung Fu Tea: a multi-unit rollout reference (16 Sep)

What it is: The 16 September release says Kung Fu Tea, which Toast calls America’s largest bubble tea brand, will run Toast across its 330+ locations: Toast Flex 3 terminals with a Guest Facing Display, Toast payment processing, and Toast KDS at select locations to sync front-of-house ordering with beverage assembly. No contract terms or prices are published.

If you run a franchise or multi-unit brand, the useful part is the hardware list — not the headline. Ask what a standard store kit costs you in writing.

6. Toast Fuel and the October context (29 Sep)

What it is: The 29 September release introduces Toast Fuel for convenience stores: a forecourt screen with a live pump dashboard, authorize or stop a pump, cash and card prepay, EMV and fleet cards, an offline mode, and Toast IQ answering questions across fuel, retail, and food. Toast says it is available now in the United States through Allied Electronics’ NeXGen PRIME forecourt controller, with more dispensers planned later in 2026. Toast’s 9 September retail survey (340 convenience, grocery, and bottle-shop operators) is the market context. The 6 October Fall Release belongs in an October log — see Toast AI.

Only relevant if your restaurant also sells fuel or you run a convenience store with a food program.