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Jimmy John’s: No Third-Party Delivery for Us, Ever

By fodnews | February 13, 2019

Jimmy likes delivery, but Jimmy doesn’t like third-party delivery. In fact, Jimmy won’t ever be using third-party delivery no matter what. This is the message from Jimmy John’s, the inescapable sandwich franchise that has its own in-house delivery team. In a strange press release, the Illinois-based franchise announced it will “never authorize” third-party companies like UberEats or DoorDash to deliver its sandwiches.  

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Unilever Acquires Graze

By fodnews | February 13, 2019

Europe’s seventh-most valuable company and global food giant Unilever announced it has acquired the holding company of Graze, the UK-based healthy snack subscription provider. Founded in 2008, Graze ships its customers a range of nuts, seeds, trail mixes and snack bars—all without artificial ingredients. In recent years, the company has expanded its offerings, including selling some of its goods via retail stores and online directly to consumers. According to the press release announcing the news, Unilever said the acquisition will accelerate its presence in the “fast-growing healthy snacking and out-of-home […]

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Jyve Expands Into Fulfillment, Cozying up Grocers

By Nicholas Upton | February 13, 2019

Jyve is ready to leave “stealth mode” and is making strides to get closer to grocery enterprises with it’s unique “skill-economy” platform with e-commerce fulfillment.

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Grubhub Quarterly Revenue Swells to $288M, Misses Expectations

By Tom Kaiser | February 7, 2019

Grubhub disappointed Wall Street investors with its fourth-quarter earnings that showed solid order growth and positive projections for 2019, but failed to meet analyst forecasts for both its revenue and earnings per share.

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Peapod Taps Deliv for Same-Day Grocery Delivery

By Tom Kaiser | February 1, 2019

Peapod, a Chicago-based grocery delivery service that’s a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize USA, signed a deal with crowdsourced logistics company Deliv to provide same-day grocery delivery service in certain markets under the Giant/Martin’s brands that are also part of Ahold Delhaize.

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Starship Delivery Bots Go to College

By fodnews | January 31, 2019

As seen in Fast Company, Starship Technologies has deployed their fleet of 25 delivery robots on the George Mason University campus in Fairfax, Virginia. These robots are able to make late night coffee and food runs or simply deliver lunch on a busy day. Through an app based program using the student’s meal plans, students are able to order from on campus retailers and expect delivery within 15 minutes. College students were sought as the experimental demographic. CEO of Starship Technologies Lex Bayer stated, “I think students are really comfortable […]

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Munchery Closure Leaves Restaurants High and Dry

By fodnews | January 31, 2019

The food delivery startup, Munchery, left local San Francisco small business owners eating the bill after abruptly shutting their doors. Munchery provided prepared meals to residents in San Francisco, Los Angelas, Seattle and New York. In San Francisco, Munchery partnered with local businesses like “Crumble & Whisk,” whose owner, Charles Farriér was outspoken on the unexpected shutdown and the impact on his business. When Farriér went to Munchery headquarters to collect his final payment of $1,700 the only other person there was another upset vendor. “They just expect us to […]

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Misfits Market Takes on Food Waste with Ugly Produce

By Nicholas Upton | January 28, 2019

Your next food delivery could be packed with ugly fruits and vegetables, and that’s a good thing.
Every year, Americans waste a staggering amount of food. The best guess is between one-third and one-half of all food goes to waste. The USDA estimates between 30 and 40 percent and a 2010 study of waste put the economic value at $161 billion in wasted food.

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Postmates Introduces ‘Serve,’ Its Robotic Delivery Rover

By Laura Michaels | January 28, 2019

Noting it’s the “first autonomous vehicle created from the ground up by an on-demand delivery company,” Postmates unveiled a robot dubbed “Serve,” which it calls a rover and plans to debut on the sidewalks of Los Angeles. That launch, the company points out, will happen after Postmates works with local governments “to thoughtfully develop a framework that can enable on-demand commerce while respecting public-right-of-way.” In other words, the actual rollout of the rovers is several months away, at least, and in light of a recent event at the University of […]

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Blue Apron Listed as Possible Bankruptcy Candidate

By Tom Kaiser | January 28, 2019

“Don’t Be Fooled: Blue Apron Is Still in Trouble” was only one of several dark headlines about the meal-delivery standard bearer that has struggled since going public in 2017.

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