Continuing its long-standing goal of becoming a top-10 global restaurant brand, Wingstop has been one of the best performing restaurants during the pandemic as it looks to open its first delivery-only kitchens in the United States after opening ghost kitchen locations in London. As the COVID-19 crisis temporarily disrupted real estate operations from local government inspections to negotiations with brokers and landlords, the Dallas-based wing chain is resuming its efforts to reach 6,000 locations, which will include a mix of traditional locations with dining rooms, delivery-only facilities in key neighborhoods […]
Taking a page from the Foodsby business model, Boston-based ezCater is launching a new service called Relish that it’s billing as a “new way to feed offices of any size” in response to the ongoing pandemic that has decimated the traditional catering market. In describing the new offering, ezCater says Relish “gives employees safe, convenient access to their choice of meals from a rotating list of local restaurants. Individually packaged meals arrive in a single delivery at a designated place and time, so there is less traffic in and out […]
Square, the popular point-of-sale platform for restaurants and retailers, has announced a new On-Demand Delivery service giving merchants the ability to accept and fulfill delivery orders that come through native platforms. As part of this new service’s launch, Square has partnered with Postmates, with assurances that additional delivery partners are coming soon. Wally Sadat, CMO of The Kebab Shop, a local chain of restaurants in California and Texas, has been using Square’s On-Demand Delivery during beta testing. “This new feature helped us keep our doors open and continue serving our […]
With algorithms determining the most efficient cooking order for line cooks and AI-enabled cameras that detect order accuracy right as meals come out of the oven or off the line, Dragontail Systems is helping some of the largest restaurants like Domino’s and Pizza Hut seamlessly integrate curbside and delivery orders into the mix without placing that nearly impossible task solely on the shoulders of floor managers or expediters. Now, with seven years under its belt and its high-tech kitchen equipment operating in more than 2,500 restaurants across the globe, the […]
There’s a new delivery platform in town that’s doubling every day. BoatGrub is thriving in a very hyper local market: the two square miles between Lobster Cove, Wingaersheek Beach and the Annisquam Lighthouse. If you’re unfamiliar, that’s the Ipswitch Bay side of the North Shore of Massachusetts where BoatGrub founder and CEO Hugh Mitchell is ferrying food around the beach and boat community. BoatGrub (no affiliation to Grubhub) just started making deliveries last week, but he’s seeing major traction already and has grabbed the attention of multiple news outlets from […]
Uber unveiled a handful of new features in June designed to make the ordering experience better for consumers. The new features include restaurant rewards, an enhanced pick-up experience through the app and priority delivery. Priority delivery, no doubt, is the biggest game changer for consumers. It allows diners to pay a “nominal fee” to put themselves at the front of the delivery line. The company didn’t state what the fee will be. Materials from the company pegged it at $1, but that will certainly be on a sliding scale as […]
A lawsuit between Yum Brands and Grubhub shows that delivery partnerships based on big enterprise contracts can be as contentious as those at an independent single unit. In short, Yum sued Grubhub after the delivery platform raised fees and pulled out of a contract with the QSR mega-operator that owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut. In a note from Grubhub to Yum that’s now an exhibit in the lawsuit, the company said Yum had “materially breached” an agreement inked in February of 2018. In that deal, Yum invested $200 […]
Dark kitchens and virtual restaurants continue to expand across the country, but as the pendulum of food spending swings back toward grocery, a similar model is expanding rapidly there as well. While a dark grocery store sounds like nightmare fuel out of a zombie movie or something, these new “microfulfillment” centers, as described in a recent Pitchbook report examining digital grocery operations, are expanding rapidly and attracting millions in investment. The key driver has been—as are most trends in 2020—the consumer behavior shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the […]
Coffee juggernaut Starbucks is closing up to 400 of its North American stores over the next 18 months, while simultaneously accelerating plans to open around 300 new locations focused on carryout and pickup. Embedded within its latest 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Starbucks provided an update on its closure-and-expansions plans, which were “temporarily paused” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This reflects the accelerated repositioning of a number of company-operated stores as we blend store formats and strategically optimize our portfolio primarily in U.S. urban markets as outlined […]
Curbside pickup can resemble a modern game of telephone or a cell phone commercial with both parties essentially saying, “I’m here, can you see me?” Like many brands springing up to assist restaurants with this now-crucial ordering channel, Swipeby is looking to take manpower and uncertainty out of the arrangement to give restaurants an easier, less error-prone way to operate curbside at higher volumes. Founded by a recent college grad who spent a semester at NYU Shanghai and became enamored with the plentiful, shockingly affordable restaurant delivery options, Swipeby Founder […]
