January 19, 2023

Peter Cook, Editor

Have you seen the updated list of speakers for the International Ghost Kitchen Conference?  Check it out.  We’re really excited to be able to spend a couple of days hearing from and networking with these industry leaders.  Registration is open.  You should join us!

Several of the companies participating in the conference make the news this week.  Some interesting news and/or analysis related to Just Eat Takeaway, Deliveroo, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Steak & Ale, Nextbite, Umami Burger, Reef, Grubhub, Deliverect, Rebel Foods, 800 Degrees, Popeyes, Curefoods, Zomato, and more!

And now, the news…

Issue #126

Takeaway CEO Groen: sales process for Grubhub 'difficult' given current M&A market

Just Eat Takeaway CEO Jitse Groen on Wednesday said the company remains in talks to sell its U.S. Grubhub subsidiary, but the sales process is "difficult" given the current M&A market.


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Starbucks, DoorDash will take delivery partnership nationwide

The companies will offer delivery through DoorDash’s app and website in Northern California, Texas, Georgia, Florida and other select markets starting Tuesday, and will expand delivery nationwide by March.


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14 Years After Disappearing, Steak and Ale is Set to Return

Paul and Gwen Mangiamele’s Legendary Restaurant Brands has set out to revive the concept, including smaller-footprint franchises as well as ghost kitchens, host kitchens and hotels.


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Nextbite Names Former Overstock CPO as Chief Digital Officer to Accelerate Innovation of its Restaurant Virtual Brand Offerings

Former Chief Product Officer for Overstock and Chief Technology Officer for C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), Vikram Raghavan brings extensive technology, ecommerce and virtual brand expertise to Nextbite.


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Wendy’s eliminates chief commercial officer role as part of corporate restructure

Wendy’s has begun a redesign of its organizational structure at the corporate level in order to support its long-term growth strategy, boost efficiency and streamline its decision making.


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Umami Burger and Sam's Crispy Chicken expanding to Canada

C3, the world’s fastest-growing food tech platform, recently announced in a media release that there would be an expansion into Canada through a partnership with Ghost Kitchen leader REEF.


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Ghost Truck Kitchen Opening Third Restaurant in Hoboken

Ghost Truck Kitchen, a digital food-truck-style restaurant that burst on the scene four years ago, is expanding yet again by adding a Hoboken location to their growing business.


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KitchenData: The number of Restaurants operating Virtual Brands has grown by close to 50% in the past quarter

Restaurants participating in this model have maintained a median of 3 virtual brands operated at each location.


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Grubhub Partners with RapidSOS to Enhance Driver Safety through Faster & Smarter 911 Response

RapidSOS's intelligent safety platform integrates with Grubhub for Drivers app, routing accurate data to 911 responders whenever an emergency call is made.


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Chick-fil-A and McDonald's now have surprising competition right on their doorstep

Ghost kitchens…should fast food chains be concerned with some innovative new approaches?


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Predicting the future with Denny Marie Post

Kristen Hawley article on Denny Marie Post, from Yum! Brands to Burger King to Starbucks to Red Robin to Nextbite.


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The Next Wave of On-Demand Restaurant Delivery: How Will It Affect the Supply Packaging Industry?

In this blog post, they take a closer look at what is the future of on-demand delivery and explore how it will affect the supply packaging industry.


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Deliverect Announces Integration with Toast to Help Restaurants Drive Delivery Revenue

Deliverect, a global scale-up that simplifies digital orders for restaurants, announced that it has joined the Toast Partner Ecosystem so restaurants can manage online orders from their Toast point of sale (POS) with ease.


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Canada: DoorDash Launches DashPass Subscription for Canadian Students Nationwide

Students can enjoy a new level of convenience and savings from their favourite restaurants with DashPass for Students


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UK: Deliveroo achieves breakeven in second half

British meal delivery company Deliveroo said it achieved breakeven in adjusted earnings in the second half, boosting its margin for the year to a better-than-expected -1%, and it expected continued improvement in 2023.


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UK: Deliveroo shares in the spotlight this week as analysts say firm could be undervalued

The London-headquartered firm has been under pressure since floating on the stock market in 2021, with the share price down some 67 per cent from the original offer price.


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UK: 800° Degrees Pizza to make its UK debut

Californian-based pizzeria 800° Degrees Pizza will make its UK debut this month, at Gravity Wandsworth.


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EU: Just Eat Takeaway shares jump after it returns to profit

Online food delivery business boosted by higher prices and delivery costs.


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EU: Just Eat Takeaway's Strategic Shift Looks to Be Paying off

Just Eat Takeaway.com is shifting its focus toward profit from expansion and, after a streamlining process, results seem to be shining through.


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EU: Popeyes Is Planning to Swarm France With Fried Chicken

The brand has expressed big expansion plans will take place in the next decade.


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India: Unpacking Curefoods’ scale through numbers

The opportunity in cloud kitchens is apparent from the spike in Curefood’s scale which touched Rs 90 crore in 18 months of its operations.


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India: Cloud Kitchen Unicorn Rebel Foods Lays Off 2% of its Workforce

Sequoia-backed cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods, which houses brands like Oven Story, Behrouz Biryani, Sweet Truth, and Faasos, is the latest startup to downsize its workforce.


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India: How Zomato plans to achieve a balance in profitability and growth?

Zomato’s focus on growth may lead to delays in its short-run profitability targets but strategic initiatives hold the possibility of building a more sustainable business model with high-quality growth.


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Politicians & Ghost Kitchens - Link 1

One for the "I don't actually care" category, but two stories jumped out at me this week regarding politicians and ghost kitchens. First is the Mayor of Barcelona and her insane hatred of ghost kitchens. She calls them “predatory platforms that generate noise and smoke, invade public space and pose fierce competition to lifelong commerce.”


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Politicians & Ghost Kitchens - Link 2

One for the "I don't actually care" category, but two stories jumped out at me this week regarding politicians and ghost kitchens. The second mention of politicians and ghost kitchens is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ordered their lunch from a ghost kitchen. In a choreographed scene, they order from a local ghost kitchen. Ghostburger started as a pop-up ghost kitchen inside mod-Mex restaurant Espita during the pandemic as a way to bring in extra income. It ultimately became so popular that it took over the entire space last September.


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