DoorDash Acquires Chowbotics in Step Toward Restaurant Automation
DoorDash acquired robotic salad maker Chowbotics in a new push to give merchant partners additional options to deliver. The top delivery platform that went public in December announced the Chowbotics acquisition in a blog post. It noted that the “proven” model with...
Thinking Through the Delivery P&L
Delivery profitability remains one of the biggest debates in the food-delivery space. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified that topic dramatically as the majority of restaurants continue doing a huge portion of their business in pickup and delivery channels. A large...
Zuul Diversifies into Multi-Concept Ghost Kitchen Tech
As it diversifies beyond its formative days as a Manhattan ghost kitchen, Zuul is now moving into the restaurant technology space with the release of its ZuulOS that helps operators manage multi-brand restaurant and ghost kitchen operations. It’s an increasingly...
As Delivery Matches Rides, Uber Posts $968M Quarterly Loss
Two weeks after moving to buy Drizly, Uber announced its fourth-quarter financial results, which also included full-year results for 2020. The prime highlights are year-over-year delivery bookings up nearly 130 percent as food delivery has pulled even with its...
Restaurant Vets Launch OrderB4 Ghost, Virtual Kitchen Management
Rapid-fire growth of ghost kitchens and virtual restaurants is setting off yet another land rush in the off-premises restaurant space as developers rush to create seamless software for operators managing multiple delivery-only concepts. As the very definition of a...
For Virtual Hopefuls, More Options Pop Up
The industry can add two more novel virtual restaurant companies to the list. The first, a revenue-sharing model, Trivr Eats. The second is the first legally defined virtual restaurant franchise: Local Culinary. Both emphasize speed to market and a focus on...
Grubhub Announces Full Year 2020 Earnings
Grubhub announced fourth quarter and full-year earnings in potentially its last full year report before merging with Just Eat Takeaway.com. The earnings from the Chicago-based company were somewhat mixed. Grubhub’s overall revenue was up significantly, in line with...
Food Dudes Finds Delivery Volume in the Smallest Towns
Based in a mid-size city in central Minnesota, Food Dudes is a restaurant delivery service that’s finding success in cities and towns that are much smaller than any burg served by the biggest players in the industry. With a lean team and a remote headquarters team,...
DoorDash Grabs Majority of Surging Convenience Market
DoorDash is leading the online convenience category by a country mile, according to new transaction data analyzed by Edison Trends. After 2020, in which consumer spending at online C-stores grew by 346 percent, DoorDash ended last month with 58 percent share over...
Outstanding Operators
Food On Demand Outstanding Operators features restaurant brands with innovative operations that are taking creative paths to success with delivery and all things off-premises.