Amid the holiday feasting, Grubhub unveiled its annual “Year In Food” report, showing what we all feasted on throughout this year of delivery. One of the most notable highlights was the collision of the delivery trend and plant-based restaurant options. The fastest growing delivered item by far was cauliflower pizza; it grew in popularity by 650 percent. Right behind it were a slew of other plant-based menu items from Brussels sprouts with 622 percent growth; Portobello empanadas with 601 percent growth; black bean and sweet potato tacos with 514 percent […]
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In the seventh installment of analyst firm Cowen’s “Delivery Expert Series” that asks influential members of the delivery landscape about the future of the category, its panelists agreed the era of rapid expansion of delivery footprints is over, as third-party delivery increasingly becomes a commodity in the eyes of consumers. The panelists also agreed that the promotional arms race among providers will continue as the pizza delivery category remains challenged and Grubhub’s difficulties likely will persist throughout 2020. Cowen’s report includes feedback from Noah Glass, founder and CEO of Olo, […]
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In quick-service restaurants, where every second is scrutinized and monetized, taking out inefficiencies has been drilled down to the microscopic level. To reduce unnecessary human interaction and make it easier and faster for customers to pick up to-go orders, an industrial supply chain manufacturer has developed smart shelves that alert customers when their orders are ready, integrate directly with POS and shave off precious time for restaurants looking to boost their to-go business. Based outside of Cincinnati, Apex Supply Chain Technology’s so-called Order Pick-up Solutions are a modern-day version of […]
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In what is being hailed as the first cross-country delivery by an automated semi truck, Plus.ai brought butter from California to Pennsylvania—no driver required. The Cupertino-based (of course) company took three days to tow the 40,000-pound shipment from Tulare, California, to Quakertown, Pennsylvania—which is a 2,800-mile trip. The technology behind the wheel included “multimodal sensor fusion, deep learning visual algorithms, and simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) technologies,” according to the press release. That puts the technology at what is known as automation level four, where a human driver stands by […]
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Baby food delivery is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” ideas in the delivery world, especially when they announce a huge investment round like Yumi just did. Yumi is a science-based, early-childhood meal delivery program and one of a handful of startups in the baby food delivery market. It just successfully raised $8 million to fuel further expansion. So far, the company has now raised $12.1 million. According to a Techcrunch article about the fundraising efforts, the latest round included big names in next-wave foodservice like Blue […]
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After dipping spoons into delivered ice cream this summer, four members of the Food On Demand brain trust ordered burritos for lunch on a perfectly normal, 25-degree day in Minneapolis. Looking for a mix of variety and control, we ordered from two national chains and one independent, and used four different third-party delivery services for a quick snapshot of the delivery landscape. The scene was typical for early December in Minneapolis, two days after back-to-back Thanksgiving snowstorms blanketed the city. Roads were plowed, skies were clear and we were looking […]
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Chris Baggott, the founder and CEO of ClusterTruck, said after many, many conversations with restaurant owners, he found what might be the ideal ghost kitchen partner in grocery giant Kroger. ClusterTruck, the “virtual food truck” that offers everything from pad Thai to hamburgers out of four vertically-integrated delivery-only kitchens, and the largest grocery chain in the U.S. will partner to expand the reach of the delivery operations. Baggott founded ClusterTruck in 2015 as the delivery world was taking flight. He saw the blend of high-fees, low margins and third party […]
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With more restaurants and delivery brands vying for customers’ attention, along with the plethora of online marketing channels, it’s getting harder to promote a restaurant that could use more eyeballs on it. A new company has added a more personal option to the small-business marketing catalogue, and some Schlotzsky’s franchisees are using its boots-on-the-ground marketers to build buzz ahead of grand openings and promote delivery and catering options. With pricing far below most marketing campaigns or ad buys, Field Day deploys a single person or a phalanx of energetic marketers […]
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A new report by Deloitte paints a rosy picture of delivery’s effects in Europe. Titled “Delivering Growth,” Deloitte tapped into sales data, consumer surveys and public information to explore how the explosion of delivery has changed operations for European restaurants. In short, the study concluded that delivery has been a net positive. Restaurants included in the study reported sales increasing after implementing Uber Eats, which paid for the study. According to Uber, the share of restaurants reporting an increase in sales was 59 percent in Madrid, 67 percent in Warsaw, […]
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The restaurant delivery scene is about to get Trivago-ed. Or Pricelined, Expedia-d or Googled—whatever your favorite industry middleman brand might be. With the great restaurant reshuffle now divided between the two sides of the gym—nervous restaurateurs on one side and cocksure third-party delivery services on the other—FoodBoss is coming in as a neutral party giving customers one single place where they can see which delivery service is offering the best deal in total cost and delivery time, among other filters. The goal is to create an aggregator for meal-delivery marketplaces, […]
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