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Just Eat Takeaway Completes Grubhub Acquisition, Adam DeWitt is New CEO

By Tom Kaiser | June 16, 2021

Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.com completed its acquisition of Grubhub representing its entry into the U.S. food delivery market.

Refraction AI Bots Roll into Austin

By Nicholas Upton | June 16, 2021

Pizza fans in in Austin can now get their pies delivered by Refraction AI’s bike-lane robots. A fleet 10 REV-1 bots are making deliveries for Austin institution Southside Flying Pizza. Customers in three Austin neighborhoods can place orders with the restaurant and meet the bot at their curb as of this week. The robots, as Food On Demand has previously covered, stand nearly 5 feet tall and can drive in the road or, preferably, in a bike lane. They can reach speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. The […]

Novel Ghost Operator JustKitchen Set to Land in U.S.

By Nicholas Upton | June 16, 2021

JustKitchen is riding a wave of investment and success in Asian markets into the frothy waters of U.S. ghost kitchen industry. The company just raised $24 million for several international expansion projects that also include Singapore and the Philippines. The key ingredient for the company is a “hub-and-spoke” model by which core ingredients are made at a central processing hub and the “spoke” locations handle the perishable things like cooking pasta or rice, preparing vegetables and putting it all together. The goal is to build multiple small locations (1,500 to […]

Beyond Reservations, Wisely Focuses on Lifetime Loyalty

By Tom Kaiser | June 10, 2021

Wisely is a waitlist platform that helps restaurants unlock customer lifetime value, which helps CFOs make tough decisions as the industry faces increased competition and strained financial resources.

Skipping the Mortar Model, Star Naidu Opens Khana Americana Ghost Kitchen

By Emili Raeder | June 10, 2021

At first glance, it might appear Star Naidu is launching her Khana Americana restaurant backwards. The first-time restaurateur skipped the brick-and-mortar model and started her Indian-American concept as a ghost kitchen in Atlanta.

Acquiring Dragontail, Yum Brands Nabs Order Management, Delivery Tech

By Emili Raeder | June 10, 2021

Yum Brands is acquiring Dragontail Systems, a provider of high-tech kitchen equipment to help restaurants manage kitchen flow, control food quality, and seamlessly control the delivery process.

Rich Products Partners with Nextbite on VR Pilot

By Tom Kaiser | June 10, 2021

Rich Products Corporation, a privately held multinational food products brand based in Buffalo, New York, partnered with Nextbite to launch a trio of virtual restaurant brands.

Grubhub Responds to Multiple Merger Lawsuits

By Nicholas Upton | June 9, 2021

A year after entering a merger plan with Just Eat Takewaway.com, Grubhub is defending itself against a handful of shareholder lawsuits. In all, 14 lawsuits have hit the courts alleging various issues in the merger agreement. One suit alleges the company violated key Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines, another alleges the sale process was flawed or key information was missing and that key stakeholders have a vested financial interest in pushing the sale through. In a suit alleging the latter, plaintiffs said Grubhub founder and CEO Matt Maloney and other […]

3 Top Items for your Virtual Startup Checklist

By Nicholas Upton | June 9, 2021

Starting a virtual concept can be somewhat daunting. Especially as the restaurant industry reopens, it’s yet another complex thing to worry about along with everything else. Three savvy virtual restaurant experts offered three key things to think about, as they shared during a Food On Demand virtual event titled Building Success with Ghost Kitchens & Virtual Restaurants. In a panel exploring what to think through when starting up a virtual concept, restauranteur and consultant Alistair Levine, Kitchen United Chief Business Officer Atul Sood and Flipdish North America President John DiLoreto […]

Food Rocket Bets Faster Groceries Can Topple Instacart, Amazon Fresh

By Tom Kaiser | June 3, 2021

Startups like Food Rocket, which delivers bags of locally influenced groceries in just 10 minutes, have begun attracting investors in a bid to muscle past Instacart, Amazon and established grocers.