To help returning office workers tap back into their daily routine with some pizza, subs and all the fusions of New York’s lunch scene, Zuul has opened a virtual food hall. Zuul, a New York-based ghost kitchen operator, announced that the project dubbed Zuul Market does a lot of novel delivery operations, but the key point for office buildings is the order batching. Orders from the facility can be batched and delivered to specific drop points in an office or residential building. That reduced the number of delivery drivers out […]
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In yet another big consolidation for the global food delivery industry, Delivery Hero is set to acquire Latin- and South-American delivery network Glovo for about $268 million. The deal would mark the second large delivery acquisition by the German-based delivery firm in as many months. The company also announced plans to acquire InstaShop, an online marketplace for grocery, convenience and retail. With the acquisition of Glovo, Delivery Hero will have a much deeper penetration in the South American market as it scoops up delivery operations in 650 cities across 22 […]
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The herd says the breakfast daypart has been one of the biggest losers during the pandemic, as working from home, job losses and a general reshaping of daily habits caused more people to either skip breakfast or eat something quick at home. Florida-based First Watch, a decades-old breakfast brand, says the herd mentality is wrong about breakfast: our upended world has resulted in more occasions and ways to experience breakfast, whether it’s a bowl of cereal at 2 a.m. or avocado toast for dinner. While some restaurants have trimmed their […]
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Amazon is wading into the choppy waters of Instacart and other grocery gig companies with a new Whole Foods delivery program. The company announced the new Shop and Deliver program as a part of Amazon’s existing gig-delivery program, Amazon Flex. Flex drivers use their own cars to make Amazon package deliveries, and now they will get the option to take Whole Foods delivery orders, too. Unlike a typical Flex order, however, delivery workers also will do the shopping. Amazon described the model in a post on Amazon Flex: We’re excited […]
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There’s no getting around the inherent inefficiency of a two-ton passenger car delivering a single cheeseburger—it’s hugely wasteful, impractical and, as third-party delivery providers have proven, bad for an industry hoping to eventually turn a profit. As many delivery watchers hail drones as the eventual savior of the industry’s bottom line, smaller, purpose-built electric vehicles might be the holy grail silently whirring away in the shadows. That’s the goal of Gallery, a Denver-based provider of mobile food and beverage carts that already has a huge presence in stadiums and arenas […]
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Should hotels still operate their own in-property restaurants even if they don’t turn a profit? Not according to Butler Hospitality, a New York-based startup that’s bundling room service operations in a single kitchen that can service as many as 10 nearby hotels with in-room hospitality that is intended to rival the upscale experience road warriors are missing during this ongoing pandemic. Tim Gjonbalic, whose family immigrated to the U.S. in 1990, launched Butler Hospitality four years ago to provide a direct replacement for hotel restaurants that he says are often […]
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Experts from ezCater, Foodsby and DeliverThat joined Ryan Palmer, a restaurant attorney with Lathrop GPM, to discuss where each catering-focused brand is finding optimism as the pandemic continues to depress volume in an important chunk of the North American restaurant business. Held during the virtual Food On Demand Conference, the speakers’ message was consistent: Catering is not out of the woods, and individually packaged orders will have a prominent seat at the table no matter how the back side of the COVID-19 crisis unfolds. With Palmer adding that none of […]
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Burger King released renderings for its next-generation stores that have no dining rooms, a small-scale solar panel farm and countless ways for off-premises orders to reach delivery drivers or customers who either walk up, use any one of three drive-thru lanes or park in an array of order-pickup spaces. Compared to the Taco Bell prototype we recently reported on, Burger King’s new template steps even further into a future that will feature fewer dining rooms from quick-service restaurant brands. Created by BK parent, Restaurant Brands International, its new store designs […]
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Walmart has begun doing real-world drone deliveries in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with partner Flytrex, which got approval in the city last year. The drones can carry about 6.5 pounds and travel 7 miles per trip, reaching speeds of about 32 miles per hour, according to Flytrex. Walmart said it was one of many automation tests in process now as the big-box retail giant figures out what’s next. “We know that it will be some time before we see millions of packages delivered via drone. That still feels like a bit […]
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Casual dining is still hurting as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps many customers from dining in. That has BBQ Holdings, the parent company of Famous Dave’s and Granite City, using virtual outlets to bridge the ongoing sales hole. “How do you fill those gaps? We really found that ghost kitchens virtual brands and dual-concepting are really working,” said BBQ Holdings CEO Jeff Crivello. Currently, the company has 17 non-traditional restaurant outlets, including seven ghost kitchens, eight virtual restaurants and one co-branded restaurant. The company just launched Hayward’s Hen House, jumping into […]
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