Building the Midpoint Between Food Trucks and Delivery Pods
There’s no getting around the inherent inefficiency of a two-ton passenger car delivering a single cheeseburger—it’s hugely wasteful, impractical and, as third-party delivery providers have proven, bad for an industry hoping to eventually turn a profit. As many...
Making Room Service Profitable Again
Should hotels still operate their own in-property restaurants even if they don’t turn a profit? Not according to Butler Hospitality, a New York-based startup that’s bundling room service operations in a single kitchen that can service as many as 10 nearby hotels with...
Hunting for Hope in a Catering Meltdown
Experts from ezCater, Foodsby and DeliverThat joined Ryan Palmer, a restaurant attorney with Lathrop GPM, to discuss where each catering-focused brand is finding optimism as the pandemic continues to depress volume in an important chunk of the North American...
“No Touching!” at Futuristic Burger King Prototypes
Burger King released renderings for its next-generation stores that have no dining rooms, a small-scale solar panel farm and countless ways for off-premises orders to reach delivery drivers or customers who either walk up, use any one of three drive-thru lanes or park...
Walmart Pilots Drone Program in N.C. Announces Next Drone Test
Walmart has begun doing real-world drone deliveries in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with partner Flytrex, which got approval in the city last year. The drones can carry about 6.5 pounds and travel 7 miles per trip, reaching speeds of about 32 miles per hour,...
Virtual Operations Help ‘Fill the Gaps’ for Famous Dave’s Parent
Casual dining is still hurting as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps many customers from dining in. That has BBQ Holdings, the parent company of Famous Dave’s and Granite City, using virtual outlets to bridge the ongoing sales hole. “How do you fill those gaps? We really...
Franchisors Tackle the Delivery World for Entire System
The last couple of months have been “crazy” for Moe’s Southwestern Grill while many of the pending projects the franchise had in the works were rolled out quickly to meet the demands caused by the pandemic, such as a free delivery campaign at 550 stores, Tad Low,...
Bolt Bikes Lands Investment, Rebrands as Zoomo
Bolt Bikes, the e-bike manufacturer that’s focused on the delivery market and led by a former Deliveroo exec, announced it landed an eight-figure investment designed to help it expand operations in the United States, while also moving into new categories globally....
Restaurant Delivery Programs Go Native
Native delivery has emerged as one of the biggest themes of the year, said Food On Demand Editor Tom Kaiser, as restaurant operators seek to improve the economics of delivery and maintain more control over the experience. “The economics of third-party delivery are...
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.