As New York City’s $25 billion Hudson Yards opens to the public, many in the retail and restaurant worlds will be watching to see if this largest private development in U.S. history can succeed with a mega-scale formula representing the biggest bet ever placed on in-person shopping, people watching and dining.
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On-demand restaurant delivery would be just a figment of a futuristic imagination without considering the perspective of the thousands of drivers who make this industry’s wheels go round. For a taste of the day-to-day experience, I went through driver training at Bite Squad and spent a day motoring about the city with Brent, a Canadian expat who may be the friendliest delivery driver in the city. My big day as a driver had somewhat hilarious timing as my hometown of Minneapolis had been buried under a succession of late-winter blizzards […]
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Move over, e-scooters! Takeout and delivery packaging bans are the hot new topic in cities as a growing number of municipalities address the increase in packaging that our hyper-convenient, food-on-demand lifestyles now require. The packaging industry has some thoughts on the subject, as you’d imagine, but we also spoke with a waste prevention specialist to outline out how restaurants and customers can minimize their impact on the planet without compromising on food quality. The backdrop is dark and stormy for foodservice packaging manufacturers and restaurant operators trying to keep up […]
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Eatsa, a technology provider in the restaurant space known for its novel “automat-like” digital cubbies for food pickup, has moved into the virtual restaurant space. In a partnership with Deliveroo, a UK-based food delivery company, the firm will now power a virtual kitchen. Something eatsa CEO Tim Young says will alter the entire industry. “Virtual restaurants, which are designed specifically for delivery, are going to be a game changer for the industry. The huge consumer shift we are seeing toward delivery has created an undeniable opportunity for restaurant brands, as […]
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As part of its third-annual Delivery Index, digital ordering solutions firm Tillster surveyed 2,000 quick-service and fast-casual restaurant customers to learn more about their delivery preferences and habits. It’s likely no surprise that customers indicated they’d order from their favorite QSR and fast-casual restaurants if more brands offered delivery. In the past 12 months, more than half of the surveyed customers ordered online meal delivery, with another 50 percent saying they ordered delivery between one and five times each month. Perhaps most interestingly, half of consumers said they preferred ordering […]
Read MoreLike Deliveroo overseas and DoorDash in the U.S., Uber is testing its own virtual kitchen concept. While the company hasn’t officially announced a delivery-only kitchen, an unnamed Bloomberg source told the publication that Uber has been leasing kitchen space in Paris and renting them to restaurateurs—much like other shared kitchen startups. That would put Uber back in the mix with the embattled former CEO Travis Kalanick, who left the company and invested almost immediately in “smart kitchens” with a company called City Storage Systems. The company has been operating in […]
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The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is finalizing plans to open dozens of new grocery stores across the country, doubling down on its interest in the grocery market after purchasing Whole Foods in 2017 for more than $13 billion. According to the story, which Amazon has not confirmed, the Seattle-based tech giant has chosen future homes for the new brand, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. In addition, WSJ speculates that Amazon may even be open to purchasing existing regional grocery brands to increase […]
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Delivery logistics giant FedEx announced what it calls the SameDay Bot, an autonomous delivery robot aimed at retailers wanting to make same-day and last-mile deliveries. With the bot, which resembles a trash compactor-Opportunity rover hybrid, retailers can accept orders from nearby customers and use the bot to deliver products directly to their homes or businesses on the same day. FedEx is collaborating with a variety of brands including AutoZone, Lowe’s, Pizza Hut, Target, Walgreens and Walmart to assess their autonomous delivery needs. According to FedEx, more than 60 percent of […]
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Kitchen United had some big, aggressive goals. Last year, Founder and CEO Jim Collins laid out the path to 15 locations open or under way by the end of 2019. It’s the hallmark in the restaurant industry to over-promise and hope everyone forgets about it, but given a major addition to the leadership team, two new locations all on the heels of a successful funding round, the company seems poised to deliver. In late February, the company announced four major additions to the executive team, adding a dedicated CFO, and […]
Read MoreGrubhub solidified its presence in Philadelphia on Monday morning. Standing next to Mayor Jim Kenney, Grubhub’s CTO Maria Belousova and Chief Product Officer Sam hall ceremoniously cut the ribbon to a 15,000 square-foot office in Philadelphia’s city center. Once scattered at five different offices around the city, the Grubhub team will all be working under one roof.
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