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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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., […]
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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 […]
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The third-annual Food On Demand Conference is going all in on ghost kitchens and virtual restaurants, customer attraction through loyalty and direct marketing, helping restaurant operators know where to dedicate finite resources with more channels than ever and Designing the Restaurant of the Future. Held in Las Vegas, March 30 through April 1, this event will be the largest yet, with three days of content dedicated to the future of restaurants, foodservice, delivery, catering and takeout. FODC kicks off Monday afternoon with a quick look at the state of the off-premises […]
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The term “self delivery”—which, of course, means customer pickup—never fails to solicit a laugh here at FOD, but nothing’s funny for restaurants looking to convert delivery customers to takeout customers willing to grab their meals in person. To evaluate the changing takeout landscape, we chose a handful of nearby chain restaurants to order soup and whatever else on a cold winter’s day. Results ranged from fantastic to “what the hell”? Aside from including soup in the order, we were instructed to order directly from the restaurant’s website or app. We evaluated […]
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Large companies like Domino’s, Starbucks, Panera and Chipotle are envied for their ability to invest massive investments in technology, especially in terms of customer engagement and loyalty. Not everyone is so fortunate. But now Thanx CEO Zach Goldstein, who has a background working with large-scale restaurants and retailers at Bain & Company, is providing smaller restaurants with resources to maximize the lifetime value of their best customers and compete with the same weapons employed by the world’s largest chains. “You’ve seen the legacy players who are still operating very much […]
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