With thousands of new delivery-only restaurants opening in the coming year, a range of opposing business plans are raking in a deluge of investment funds, bringing virtual concepts into existing restaurants and purpose-built ghost kitchen spaces. Whichever model eventually wins out, existing restaurant operators are left to ponder the impact of a tsunami of new supply hitting the market from several well-capitalized players.
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After SoftBank Group invested $120M in Ordermark, Alex Canter is hoping one Nextbite’s virtual concepts will become the next Domino’s. In an interview w/Food On Demand, he delved into details of his growth plans and how virtual restaurants can be a boon to restaurants, rather than more competition.
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With so many restaurants doing delivery for the first time because of the pandemic or earlier adopters updating their delivery programs in recent months, the energy is shifting from the must-haves to nice-to-haves in the mold of delivery pioneers like Domino’s or Chipotle.
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The robots are here, and they’re helping restaurants navigate the surge in delivery. Flippy, the burger-flipping and fry-frying robot from Miso Robotics is back in the news and making a major expansion in the White Castle system. The QSR chain ‘flipped’ over their first test with the new iteration of the autonomous-arm chef that connects to a kitchen wall for access to the grill and fryer stations. The initial test started in July with a single location. Now, the company is expanding the test to 10 more locations around the […]
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Grubhub is under legal fire for listing non-partnered restaurants on its platform, but what will actually come of a newly filed class-action lawsuit is not clear. The suit, filed by Gibbs Law Group, alleges that Grubhub misused trademarks by placing non-partner restaurants on its platform. The suit’s plaintiffs “seek a judgment (a) finding that Grubhub has violated the Lanham Act by using restaurant names and logos without authorization and in a manner likely to confuse consumers; and (b) ordering that Grubhub cease its unlawful conduct, turn over its ill-gotten gains, […]
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Phase Change Solutions, a manufacturer of green building materials and the company behind the Domino’s HeatWave bags, says the technology to improve restaurant delivery is fired up and ready to go, if only the third-party delivery providers would spring for the upgrade.
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Famous Toastery, a full-service breakfast franchise with nearly 30 locations, is testing self-delivery and restarting its franchising program after the shock of COVID-19 pushed the company to roll out online ordering over the course of four frantic days.
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The delivery and convenience tech stack keeps expanding and the money keeps coming. Onfleet, a B2B software-as-a-service delivery enabler, is the latest with a $14-million series A investment round led by Kennet Partners. The San Francisco-based company handles the last-mile delivery logistics, helping companies that want to do their own deliveries but with all the tools of a high-tech institution. Onfleet doesn’t provide drivers, generate demand or enable orders. Instead, it is laser focused on helping in-house drivers get to the customer as efficiently as possible. “We take care of […]
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A global pandemic shifting an enormous portion of restaurant orders to off-premises channels hasn’t been enough to nudge Grubhub into profitability, as the Chicago-based company reported third-quarter results showing yet another jump in order volumes, but a wider loss than previously reported.
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There’s nothing you can’t do if you’re an Instagram star with a wide following, and that now includes starting your own meal-prep business. These new-age cults of personality are just part of the focus at Sprwt, a meal-prep software provider that’s targeting online celebrities, as well as aspiring chefs and personal trainers.
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