As cracks emerge in the global food supply chain, an upstart called Pepper Pantry is giving at-home consumers the ability to order produce, meat, seafood and dry goods directly from smaller, family-run restaurant supply companies. Launched in New York City just before the COVID-19 pandemic and led by a small team with deep ties to Uber Eats, the new service is expanding quickly while spreading awareness that independent suppliers are hurting just like restaurants. The promise of Pepper Pantry is certainly appealing during this time of zombie-apocalypse grocery shopping, sold […]
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Toast, a provider of hardware and software for point-of-sale transactions, has rolled out a new flat-fee delivery platform that allows restaurants to set up their own online ordering channels, including curbside takeout, electronic gift cards and contactless delivery. The company also is launching Toast Delivery Services, which allows restaurants to deliver directly to consumers with a flat fee, compared with the commission-based charges common with third-party delivery providers. In a press release announcing the new service, Toast estimates that restaurants processing $5,000 in delivery orders a month can save as […]
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As the pandemic limits mobility and options for survivors of domestic violence across the globe, Uber has partnered with domestic violence organizations and local governments to provide free rides to shelters and delivered meals in 35 cities across 16 countries. “With experts reporting a surge in domestic violence globally in the last few weeks, many shelters and service providers are seeking urgent assistance,” said Tracey Breeden, head of women’s safety and gender-based violence programs at Uber. “We want to do our part to help survivors access life-saving services and find […]
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Wingstop’s first-quarter results were good, but in the early weeks of the second quarter, the company’s deep commitment to digital operations sent its sales skyward. The company reported a 9.9 percent same-store sales increase through the quarter which ended March 30. Nearly half—47 percent—of those orders were digital. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the company closed dining rooms in mid-March, there was an initial transaction decline and a small uptick in transaction size in the range of a typical online order bump of $5. But in April, company sales […]
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Usually, earnings calls are great information but can have a canned feeling with the droll back-and-forth between management and stock analysts. The latest Grubhub call, however, shed a lot of light not only on company performance during the COVID crisis but also how the company sees the handful of critiques it is facing. Grubhub ended the first quarter with 23.9 million active diners, up 24 percent year-over-year and up 1.3 million from the fourth quarter of 2019. Food sales were $1.6 billion, which is up slightly from $1.5 billion in […]
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Mooyah is tweaking its still-new restaurant prototype design to reflect the post-COVID-19 reality of smaller dining rooms and more space for off-premises curbside and delivery orders. That’s one of many quick shifts as the burger franchise executes an ongoing five-year plan that includes a more mature logo that’s less “Yahoo!” and more “this is a burger establishment.” For nearly two months now, Mooyah’s leadership team has been meeting twice daily as the significance of the pandemic-induced crisis first became clear. One of the Texas-based brand’s first responses was implementing a […]
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Online grocery sales in the U.S. grew by 37 percent in April, to a total of $5.3 billion, according to research from Brick Meets Click and Symphony Retail AI. The headline figure is a 33 percent increase in the total number of online grocery orders placed in the past 30 days, which increased to 62.5 million over 46.9 million during March, bolstered by a modest increase in basket size, as well. Diving into the motivating factors behind the surge, the report also asked online grocery consumers about their concerns related […]
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Cousins Subs moved quickly and aggressively to blunt the impact of statewide lockdowns on the sandwich brand, including the fast-track addition of three more national delivery providers and leaning into drive-thru operations at the third of its restaurants with drive-thrus, and are seeing the best sales growth during the pandemic. To keep up, Cousins VP of Marketing Justin McCoy has been putting in long hours from the dining room table in his four-seasons porch at home. Diving into the specific campaigns, tweaks and new initiatives to react to the crisis, […]
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A new report from research firm Second Measure shows growth for the overall U.S. restaurant delivery scene, with sales at national third-party delivery providers growing a collective 24 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. In addition, statewide locks also appear to be driving more Americans to try restaurant delivery for the first time, with 28 percent of U.S. consumers now well versed in the ways of online restaurant delivery. With plenty of caveats in the way Second Measure collected its data through the end of March, the […]
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To cope with the rapid surge of online grocery orders, Instacart is planning to hire an additional 250,000 full-service shoppers over the next two months for grocery delivery and pickup operations in North America. The massive hiring push is part of a number of measures Instacart has implemented to handle increased volume, including new in-app shopper wellness checks and the expansion of its extended pay policies and bonuses for shoppers and in-store teams. “Overnight, we’ve become a necessity for millions of people and our teams are working tirelessly to launch […]
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