Business Trends

Food delivery platform DoorDash announced that it's purchasing on demand food and catering delivery service Caviar from third party payment processor Square. The deal is reported to be worth $410 million in cash and stock. Square purchased Caviar in 2014 for $90 million. This acqusition will inrease DoorDash's delivery infrasture. Doordash will also gain wider market appeal--currently DoorDash service mostly features...

Today, fast food giant McDonald's announced that it's partnering with DoorDash. The company hopes to widen the reach of its McDelivery service to customers. McDelivery with DoorDash will start on July 29 with 200 locations in Houston, Texas. McDonald’s will also be added as an ordering option to DoorDash’s monthly subscription service, DashPass. Nearly a million DashPass members pay a $9.99 monthly fee for...

Today it was announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) a $4.5 million grant to launch a new training program for young adults who have been in the justice system and served time. This is the largest grant ever received by the NRAEF. The program is called Hospitality Opportunities for People...

Yesterday e-commerce giant Amazon announced a plan to invest $700+ million over the next 6 years to retrain 100,000 employees of its U.S. workforce. The education will help workers move into more advanced roles across various segments of the company including corporate offices, tech hubs and fulfillment centers. Amazon’s goal is to improve the skills and know-how of a third...

McDonald's has a chicken sandwich problem, namely Chick-Fil-A's signature fried chicken sandwich. Yesterday, the board of the National Owners Association (NOA) sent an email to McDonald's calling for the chain to create a southern style chicken sandwich to compete with Chick-fil-A. NOA was created in 2018 and consists of more than 400 U.S.-based McDonald’s franchisees. The self-funded owner's advocacy group...

Recently a robotics startup company called Dishcraft announced that they've created the first automated dish room. The setup relies on AI, robotics and machine learning to clean. Commercial kitchens deal with high turnover on a regular basis and generally the quickest position to turn over is dishwasher. It's a hot, strenuous, stressful and repetitive job with long hours and limited...

Walmart recently announced that it's investing 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in logistics for its business in China. Walmart which has been in China since 1996, is facing growing competition from local rivals and online retailers. Walmart plans to spend the money to boost grocery deliveries. They have also created a plan to build or upgrade distribution centers in the country over...

Recently we discussed Amazon's $575 million investment in UK based food delivery startup Deliveroo,  how Amazon has struggled in the food service delivery arena and how Amazon Restaurants was shutting down. Speculation by industry watchers was rife that Amazon was going to use Deliveroo to gain a presence and foothold in the digital delivery market. As of this week, UK regulators have ordered Amazon to suspend investing in...

Just in time for summer! Sandwich chain Subway has collaborated with Halo Top creamery to test offering hand blended milkshakes. From July 22 through September 4, about 1,000 participating Subway restaurants in the U.S will  offer Halo Top vanilla bean, chocolate, and strawberry milkshakes. Halo Top bills itself as ice cream people can feel good eating. Founded in 2011, Halo Top has disrupted...

Since 2015, Amazon has celebrated its own holiday with Amazon Prime Day, offering deep discounts and deals to members of Amazon Prime. Amazon has an estimated 100 million Prime members. Last year, Prime Day was a frustrating experience for some customers as the Amazon website was unable to handle the volume of traffic it received. To prevent a total website...

On June 27th, The New York City Council hosted an oversight hearing to understand the impact of food delivery apps on the restaurant industry. The central question for discussion was: Do delivery apps make financial sense for restaurants? Lately, many New York restaurateurs have complained about the high fees from food delivery services and how they're being squeezed. Third party platforms have countered...

Recently it was announced that DoorDash has surpassed GrubHub to become the biggest food delivery service in the US. While digital delivery service has been growing leaps and bounds in the last few years, DoorDash has especially taken off. This spring, the company saw a staggering 189-percent year-over-year increase, compared to 32 percent at Uber Eats and 6 percent at Grubhub. Besides diners, the...

On Monday  coffee and donuts chain Dunkin' announced a partnership with third party delivery platform Grubhub. The companies are rolling out Dunkin' Delivers, a new food-ordering and delivery service. Through Seamless, Grubhub's NY brand, 400 Dunkin' locations in New York City will deliver doughnut goodness. The companies began testing the service in February to great success. They  plan to expand the delivery partnership to Boston, Chicago...

Doughnut brand Krispy Kreme recently announced that they be will be opening a 4,500-square-foot flagship location in Times Square by early 2020. The flagship store will have a “doughnut theater experience,” in which visitors can view the doughnut making process from start to finish via stadium-style seating. Also it will feature a Krispy Kreme doughnut glaze “waterfall” where streams of...

Amazon announced yesterday that it was ending Amazon Restaurants on June 24. As a result, shares of rival online food delivery services GrubHub and Waitr Holdings jumped. Grubhub shares gained more than 7% on Tuesday, while shares of smaller competitor Waitr gained 3%. Uber, the parent company of Uber Eats, saw its stock rise less than 1%. Amazon Restaurants first...

Walmart has fired a big salvo in the battle over the delivery retail market. While competitors e-commerce giant Amazon and retailer Target focus on quick deliver times and pick up options, Walmart is now offering a personalized, rapid 'white glove' service. Yesterday the company announced a new in-home delivery service aimed at time strapped customers. Customers can purchase groceries online...

Wingstop INC. (NASDAQ:WING), announced that in May first-quarter same-store sales grew 7.1% —  beating Wall Street's expectations of 3.5%. Shares of Wingstop are up more than 26% this year and nearly 62% in the past year, trumping the S&P 500′s performance over the same time frames. The aviation-themed chicken wing chain was founded in 1994. Wingstop operates more than 1,200 restaurants across the United...

According to a 2016 study by the National Restaurant Association, employee turnover across the restaurant industry was 61%. The percentage is even higher for customer facing employees. It's estimated that restaurant employers spend an average of almost $2,000 to replace hourly employees and nearly $15,000 to recruit new managers. Also, currently the restaurant industry has a shortage of workers. We...

Pizza Hut announced in a press release that for the first time since the early 1980's, they are changing the original pan pizza recipe. The chain spent 3 year developing the new pizza which is said to have a tasty revamped sauce and cheese topping. Also the company has created a new pan and baking process to result in crispier...

Today Global Payments Inc. (GPN) and Total System Services Inc. (TSS) announced an all-stock merger of equals with an equity value of about $21.5 billion. Global Payments is fifth-largest merchant acquirer in the U.S., helping businesses handle their credit and debit card payments. Total System Services is the third-biggest payment processor in the credit card issuers' market. The consolidation between these two...

E-commerce giant Amazon announced on Friday that it has become a major investor during food delivery company Deliveroo's latest funding round. The company was able to raise $575 million, bringing the investment total raised to date to $1.53 billion. London based Deliveroo was founded in 2013  and operates in two hundred cities across 14 countries, including locations in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and...

Walmart and Target aren't selling cannabis derived  products yet, but they’re preparing for the day when they can. Reportedly bigbox retailers and grocery stores including Walmart, Target and Krogers, have been quietly meeting with makers of CBD infused drinks, candy, lotions and oils. CBD is a nonpsychoactive component of marijuana that doesn’t get you high, but is thought to help relieve...