As the e-scooter craze begins to subside 20 years after Segways first promised to change our world, electric bicycles built to haul cargo might actually deliver on this lofty claim. Battery-powered two-wheelers will soon be ferrying groceries and Amazon boxes throughout dense, urban environments, a former Deliveroo exec who founded the Bolt e-bike company, Mina Nada, says the biggest opportunity is in delivering prepared meals. The keys to Bolt’s future impact lies in the details of the business model, which was designed to avoid the pitfalls, regulatory hurdles and economic […]
Read More
DoorDash remains the top dog among the largest U.S. third-party delivery providers, according to new research from Edison Trends. Gleaning national share from an analysis of more than 150,000 transactions in January, DoorDash is still the leading provider with nearly 35 percent of the market, followed closely by Uber Eats at nearly 29 percent. As Grubhub declines to just under 22 percent of the national delivery market, Postmates has grown to nearly 10 percent based on percent of overall consumer spending. Among the “big four” delivery providers, Postmates has posted […]
Read More
Like the brass at most ghost kitchen brands, Virtual Kitchen Co. CEO Ken Chong is reticent to share many details about his fast-growing network of Bay Area delivery-only kitchens he founded with fellow Uber vet Matt Sawchuk. After starting in 2018, the company has six multi-tenant facilities up and running in the city with six more coming online soon. A self-proclaimed power user of meal-delivery services, Chong said there are countless opportunities to further improve the experience for consumers from this current moment, and he’s especially interested in helping restaurateurs […]
Read More
In a potential hint at what the U.S. delivery market might look like in a couple years, Takeaway has acquired Just Eat for $7.8 billion in an all-stock deal. Amsterdam-based Takeaway.com is at the final step before integrating operations with the U.K. operator. As of a year ago, Takeaway was the sixth-largest global operator with delivery networks in Poland, Belgium, Vietnam and its home in the Netherlands. Just Eat was ranked No. 4 globally. The merger would create the largest European delivery firm with nearly 120,000 restaurants covered across dozens […]
Read More
Grubhub announced fourth-quarter results, and ultimately delivered a mixed bag, missing analyst estimates for earnings, but growing revenue slightly faster than expected. Revenues came in at $341 million, a 19 percent year-over-year increase from $288 in the fourth quarter of 2018. Gross food sales were up 13 percent to $1.6 billion and the company added 1.4 million active diners and “more than doubled” the number of restaurants on the platform. “We are making good progress on the key initiatives we outlined last quarter. We added more than 15,000 partnered and […]
Read More
Grubhub is making a move into hardware, and it’s well beyond another tablet. The company unveiled a new point of sale (POS) system dubbed Ultimate in an attempt to help restaurants become more sophisticated around takeout. It will also help ease some headaches with the delivery handoff. Essentially, the system is made up of four components: a lightweight, cloud-based POS that is pre-integrated with Grubhub and mobile apps; a kitchen display system to send orders to the back of house; and countertop kiosks for self-ordering within the restaurant. The fourth […]
Read More
New York City-based Zuul Kitchens acquired an online ordering platform in an effort to bolster the company’s technical and sales expertise as it looks to expand beyond its single nine-bay facility in Manhattan. Philadelphia-based Ontray’s CEO and co-founder Tyler Wiest has joined Zuul as its chief technology officer, while Charlie Costanzo is now the ghost provider’s business development lead. Wiest said both companies share the similar goal of “returning the power and purse back to individual restaurants.” In an interview with Food On Demand, he added that this significant change […]
Read More
Grocery delivery service Instacart has introduced its new Instacart Meals program that allows consumers to order made-to-order food from grocery stores that can be delivered or picked up within an hour. The Florida-based Publix supermarket chain is the first grocery provider rolling out the new service, which Instacart says will give consumers customizable meals that are “less than half the price” of an average fast-casual order. The Publix debut will include the company’s popular submarine sandwiches, and at-home customers will be able to customize their meals and track orders through […]
Read More
Starbucks has upsized its delivery program with Uber Eats, rolling out the service to 33 additional U.S. cities for a grand total of 49 within 33 states. The partnership first began in 2018 with an initial debut in Miami, then an expansion to a total of 16 metro areas last fall. “Following continuous success of Starbucks Delivers and further customer demand, the company plans to expand delivery to nearly all U.S. states, achieving national coverage in the coming months,” Starbucks said in a press release. In addition to the U.S., […]
Read More
If you love cocktails, but don’t like to get drunk or go outside, there’s a new multi-million-dollar startup looking to plug you into a low-alcohol cocktail membership. With the promise of reviving “aperitif culture,” Haus secured $4.5 million in seed funding from a handful of venture capital firms, some of which have no presence beyond a Twitter page such as Combine. It also includes Haystack Ventures, Shrug Capital, Coatue, Homebrew, Dream Machine and others. The round attracted many notable Silicon Valley elites, including Yelp co-founder Russell Simmons. The idea behind […]
Read More