Famous Toastery, a full-service breakfast franchise with nearly 30 locations, is testing self-delivery and restarting its franchising program after the shock of COVID-19 pushed the company to roll out online ordering over the course of four frantic days.
The delivery and convenience tech stack keeps expanding and the money keeps coming. Onfleet, a B2B software-as-a-service delivery enabler, is the latest with a $14-million series A investment round led by Kennet Partners. The San Francisco-based company handles the last-mile delivery logistics, helping companies that want to do their own deliveries but with all the tools of a high-tech institution. Onfleet doesn’t provide drivers, generate demand or enable orders. Instead, it is laser focused on helping in-house drivers get to the customer as efficiently as possible. “We take care of […]
A global pandemic shifting an enormous portion of restaurant orders to off-premises channels hasn’t been enough to nudge Grubhub into profitability, as the Chicago-based company reported third-quarter results showing yet another jump in order volumes, but a wider loss than previously reported.
There’s nothing you can’t do if you’re an Instagram star with a wide following, and that now includes starting your own meal-prep business. These new-age cults of personality are just part of the focus at Sprwt, a meal-prep software provider that’s targeting online celebrities, as well as aspiring chefs and personal trainers.
Famous Dave’s is further expanding its virtual, delivery-only operations. Thus far, the sales through these channels have been good, and CEO Jeff Crivello said it puts the legacy barbecue concept back in growth mode without the expense of building large-scale facilities. Back in September, Crivello explained how virtual operations and dual-branding helped “fill the gaps” that were carved through the casual-dining industry. Check out the past coverage for a look at how that’s helping make the economics work right now. A new expansion with Bluestone Hospitality Group is the next […]
Softbank, the Japanese private equity firm that has been a major backer of DoorDash and Uber, announced a $120-million funding round for L.A.-based Ordermark to help the online order management provider and virtual restaurant operator grow and expand its offerings.
DoorDash is rolling out a new program to help restaurants reopen as delivery-only locations. It’s the first partnership in the delivery brand’s new “Reopen for Delivery” initiative to help restaurants reopen without the typical, arduous overhead costs of a traditional brick-and-mortar location.
Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby’s, Sonic, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s and Rusty Taco, has signed an agreement with ItsaCheckmate, and also invested an undisclosed sum in the fast-growing, New York-based delivery integration software platform. This news came as Checkmate announced its latest fundraising haul, an $8 million Series B with four participating partners. While that seven-figure stack of cash would normally be the headline, the more consequential news is that one of the largest restaurant operators in the U.S. is putting its money where its mouth is […]
Hy-Vee, an employee-owned grocery chain that’s been a leader in convenience and off-premises realms, is rolling out Fast & Fresh convenience stores that give customers a wide range of grab-and-go and take-and-bake pickup options, along with more traditional meal kits, wood-fired pizza, sushi and a selection of produce, dairy, meat, bakery and pantry items. These upscale, uber-convenient outlets are the Midwestern equivalent of Pret a Mangers along the East Coast that give big-city customers the ability to grab a not-gross meal on the go. As Hy-Vee expands these Fast & […]
Recently revealed real estate documents provide another hint at what ghost-kitchen builder CloudKitchens has going on behind the scenes. According to The Wall Street Journal, CloudKitchens has gobbled up 40 properties across the country, spending more than $130 million on the real estate for its next growth surge. The ghost kitchen operator, led in part by Uber founder Travis Kalanick, has been on a growth tear by way of shell companies with the goal of adding many more locations across the country. According to a look at shell companies and […]
