In a damaging salvo in the legislative war in California, a judge opted not to block the labor law commonly known as Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). The labor law went into effect in the state on January 1, 2020, and puts a three-part test in effect to determine whether or not a gig-economy worker or freelancer rises to the level of employee. Under the rule, scores of delivery drivers, rideshare drivers and other non-traditional workers are deemed employees and entitled to broader labor protections. Read more about the law […]
It might not seem like a lot amid the billions invested in the grander food-on-demand space, but $545,900,000 in cumulative investment for essentially blank kitchen spaces is incredible and shows that investors are as hungry as ever to get a piece of the evolving foodservice landscape. This vast sum also doesn’t include the incredible amount of money delivery providers are putting toward their own ghost facilities. Deliveroo, for one, plans more than 2,000 such facilities across Europe. The Amazon-led $575 million Series G round will help pay for those kitchens, […]
As the e-scooter craze begins to subside 20 years after Segways first promised to change our world, electric bicycles built to haul cargo might actually deliver on this lofty claim. Battery-powered two-wheelers will soon be ferrying groceries and Amazon boxes throughout dense, urban environments, a former Deliveroo exec who founded the Bolt e-bike company, Mina Nada, says the biggest opportunity is in delivering prepared meals. The keys to Bolt’s future impact lies in the details of the business model, which was designed to avoid the pitfalls, regulatory hurdles and economic […]
DoorDash remains the top dog among the largest U.S. third-party delivery providers, according to new research from Edison Trends. Gleaning national share from an analysis of more than 150,000 transactions in January, DoorDash is still the leading provider with nearly 35 percent of the market, followed closely by Uber Eats at nearly 29 percent. As Grubhub declines to just under 22 percent of the national delivery market, Postmates has grown to nearly 10 percent based on percent of overall consumer spending. Among the “big four” delivery providers, Postmates has posted […]
Like the brass at most ghost kitchen brands, Virtual Kitchen Co. CEO Ken Chong is reticent to share many details about his fast-growing network of Bay Area delivery-only kitchens he founded with fellow Uber vet Matt Sawchuk. After starting in 2018, the company has six multi-tenant facilities up and running in the city with six more coming online soon. A self-proclaimed power user of meal-delivery services, Chong said there are countless opportunities to further improve the experience for consumers from this current moment, and he’s especially interested in helping restaurateurs […]
In a potential hint at what the U.S. delivery market might look like in a couple years, Takeaway has acquired Just Eat for $7.8 billion in an all-stock deal. Amsterdam-based Takeaway.com is at the final step before integrating operations with the U.K. operator. As of a year ago, Takeaway was the sixth-largest global operator with delivery networks in Poland, Belgium, Vietnam and its home in the Netherlands. Just Eat was ranked No. 4 globally. The merger would create the largest European delivery firm with nearly 120,000 restaurants covered across dozens […]
Grubhub announced fourth-quarter results, and ultimately delivered a mixed bag, missing analyst estimates for earnings, but growing revenue slightly faster than expected. Revenues came in at $341 million, a 19 percent year-over-year increase from $288 in the fourth quarter of 2018. Gross food sales were up 13 percent to $1.6 billion and the company added 1.4 million active diners and “more than doubled” the number of restaurants on the platform. “We are making good progress on the key initiatives we outlined last quarter. We added more than 15,000 partnered and […]
Grubhub is making a move into hardware, and it’s well beyond another tablet. The company unveiled a new point of sale (POS) system dubbed Ultimate in an attempt to help restaurants become more sophisticated around takeout. It will also help ease some headaches with the delivery handoff. Essentially, the system is made up of four components: a lightweight, cloud-based POS that is pre-integrated with Grubhub and mobile apps; a kitchen display system to send orders to the back of house; and countertop kiosks for self-ordering within the restaurant. The fourth […]
New York City-based Zuul Kitchens acquired an online ordering platform in an effort to bolster the company’s technical and sales expertise as it looks to expand beyond its single nine-bay facility in Manhattan. Philadelphia-based Ontray’s CEO and co-founder Tyler Wiest has joined Zuul as its chief technology officer, while Charlie Costanzo is now the ghost provider’s business development lead. Wiest said both companies share the similar goal of “returning the power and purse back to individual restaurants.” In an interview with Food On Demand, he added that this significant change […]
Grocery delivery service Instacart has introduced its new Instacart Meals program that allows consumers to order made-to-order food from grocery stores that can be delivered or picked up within an hour. The Florida-based Publix supermarket chain is the first grocery provider rolling out the new service, which Instacart says will give consumers customizable meals that are “less than half the price” of an average fast-casual order. The Publix debut will include the company’s popular submarine sandwiches, and at-home customers will be able to customize their meals and track orders through […]
