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Pizza Hut Boosting Beer Delivery Ahead of Super Bowl

By fodnews | January 9, 2019

Getting inebriated at home is about to become even easier with news that Pizza Hut is boosting its beer delivery pilot to a second round of states equating to nearly 300 restaurants across Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and Ohio—with additional locations across California and Arizona coming online by the middle of this month. The rollout is a brand priority, with Pizza Hut aiming to grow beer delivery to 1,000 restaurants by summer of 2019. The announcement was intentionally timed ahead of Super Bowl LIII, one of the busiest days […]

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Online Grocery Sales Forecasted to Grow in ‘19

By fodnews | January 9, 2019

U.S. consumers are predicted to continue migrating online for grocery shopping, with a new study suggesting online grocery sales will expand an additional 15% during 2019, increasing the overall share captured online in 2019 to 6.3%; however, providers that offer delivery and pickup are expected to grow their online sales between 25% and 30%, according to grocery research firm, Brick Meets Click. Although the forecast indicates that a larger share of online spending for groceries will shift toward the brick-and-mortar retailers offering these services, the gains will not be evenly […]

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Testing Target’s Drive-Up Delivery

By Tom Kaiser | January 3, 2019

Target’s Drive Up is sticky, using the parlance of our times. Having recently sworn off big-box grocery visits in favor of delivery or curbside pickup, skipping the hassles and time-sucks of Target for this mid-thirties yuppie is a worthy life upgrade. I may even bring my dog with me next time.

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Grubhub Names Most Popular Delivery Food of 2018

By Nicholas Upton | December 31, 2018

Grubhub has unveiled its annual most-popular food rankings, and there have been some big shifts in what people want to order. Among the top 10, bean burritos have unseated the king of delivery last year: poke. In 2017, the raw fish and rice dish show up 643 percent. Burritos, however, rocketed up from No. 7 fastest grower to take the No. 1 spot. Why? Burritos travel really well, heck they might be better after all those beans and cheese get to know each other. Poke fans, don’t worry, it’s still […]

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Indian Delivery Startup Swiggy Raises Incredible $1 Billion

By Nicholas Upton | December 31, 2018

Swiggy has just earned the title of most-raised in a single round for the food-delivery industry. The app-powered food-delivery service based in India just completed a series H round, bringing in $1 billion. Naspers, a South African investment giant, led the round and was joined by Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, Wellington Management Company and a handful of others. Swiggy claims to service 120,000 restaurants in more than 60 cities across India. By comparison, Grhubhub services more than 95,000 restaurants in 1,700 U.S. cities, with a valuation of $2.7 billion as a […]

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Tough Restaurant Climate Bodes Well for Delivery

By Tom Kaiser | December 28, 2018

We don’t know how chain restaurants will fare in the coming year, but there’s no doubt that delivery will continue to be a significant portion of earnings calls in the 12 months to come. Looking at my own life, it’s safe to say I’ll be busy trying to keep up, which will likely push me right into the warm, comfortable hands of delivery brands willing to make my life a little easier, even if it comes at the expense of war-weary restaurant execs.

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Hoping for Everything On Demand

By Tom Kaiser | December 20, 2018

I don’t think the general public realizes how many things are now available via delivery. I should know, because my inbox fills with pitches every single day. With this being the wish-iest time of the year, a few ideas come to mind about what should be the next big thing.

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Olo CEO Says Delivery’s Incrementality Is Waning

By Tom Kaiser | December 13, 2018

Olo CEO Noah Glass said restaurants should expect deteriorating levels of incrementality, meaning that fewer truly new customers will be up for grabs in the coming year. The insight is part of the “Delivery Expert Series Volume VI” report from Cowen.

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Waitr, Bite Squad to ‘Move Side-by-Side’ After Acquisition

By Nicholas Upton | December 12, 2018

It’s been a big year for Chris Meaux, the founder and CEO of Waitr. The Louisiana-based company focused on restaurant delivery in underserved cities went public, and now has essentially doubled in size with the acquisition of Minnesota-based Bite Squad for $321 million. “It’s been quite a year, it’s lucky for us that we like to move fast,” said Meaux. He said management teams in both companies have been in close contact for about two years, given their very similar way of doing business. “They have W2 drivers, we have […]

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Get a Jump on the Future at FODC

By fodnews | December 12, 2018

The stakes aren’t as high as the days when a national pizza company promised your pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free (not surprisingly there were accidents, some more than just fender-benders), but the need to get up to speed on delivery quickly is sweeping the foodservice industry from restaurants to grocery stores to hospitality tech companies along in its wake. Last year at our first Food on Demand Conference, in Dallas, we were chipping at the surface of off-premise dining—should you? And if so, when, where and how? This […]

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