Coronavirus crisis creates a surge in orders but also costs, straining margins

Uber has made an offer to buy the delivery service Grub Hub, Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. A deal could be reached by June, according to Bloomberg's sources, who also caveat that the talks could also end with no agreement.

The deal could shake up the large, if generally unprofitable American food delivery market, a space contested by Uber’s Uber Eats service, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates. The combination could create the largest food delivery entity in terms of sales, changing leadership in its market and perhaps reducing competition.

Santiago, Chile-based Cornershop has launched in Miami and Dallas, making its debut into the U.S. grocery delivery market.

Uber announced a new feature for Uber Eats this week that will allow users to share the status of a food delivery they have made for someone else.

Uber is exploring alternative revenue channels to get through the current crisis.

Home delivery is here to stay, suggests analysis by a global law firm, which notes that the food delivery sector is holding up in testing markets as businesses look to diversify.

Barron’s recently spoke with Papa John's CEO Rob Lynch about business during the pandemic , lessons from Arby’s, and unflattering remarks made by the ousted founder of Papa John’s

Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods is looking at getting into the home delivery of its prepared food and bakery products....

CEO says chain has added as many as 200 jobs.

Buffalo Wild Wings is opening its first “GO” concept restaurant on Wednesday in Atlanta, which is designed specifically for takeout and delivery orders.

Food delivery app DoorDash is working with Chili's Grill & Bar on a livestreamed virtual dinner party hosted by performer Chantel Jeffries, who is celebrating the release of her upcoming single, "Come Back to Me." The party, with celebrity guests including Britney Spears, Liam Payne and Paris Hilton.

Publix Pharmacy and ScriptDrop are collaborating to offer home delivery of prescriptions within a 5-mile radius of each in-store Publix Pharmacy for a $5 delivery fee.

Deliv is going out of business, and Target has reached a deal to acquire the same-day delivery startup's technology and some of its staff, a source familiar with the matter confirmed. The two companies have a binding agreement that is expected to close in the coming weeks.

Paragon Foods works to build new revenue stream selling directly to consumer market in a more precarious grocery market for fresh produce while ramping up hiring for new USDA program

Two Vermont-based organizations have been awarded contracts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to serve Vermonters through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, according to an announcement from Vermont’s congressional delegation and the governor.

Slice, an ordering and marketing technology platform for small pizzerias raised $43 million in Series C funding Tuesday.

DispatchTrack, which provides a platform for last-mile deliveries specifically to help companies mimic Amazon-like experiences for themselves by planning and tracking deliveries more easily, has closed a $144 million investment — its first-ever funding after scaling up as a bootstrapped startup to support more than 60 million deliveries per year.

Automotive retail trends are shifting gears in the age of social distancing, and one local company is trying to keep up with an expansion into vehicle home delivery.

Quirch Foods, which is backed by Palladium Equity Partners, has acquired Tennessee-based fresh protein distributor Butts Foods.

Shopper reached out to CBS 2 after he saw his Instacart delivery cost was almost $30 more than what his shopper paid in-store at Jewel Osco.

Louis Borders, whose company Webvan Group Inc. epitomized dot-com era flameouts, is back with a new online grocery startup.

Wayzata-based fast-casual restaurant chain Crisp & Green continues to roll with the pandemic’s punches, launching a new grocery pickup and delivery service at its seven Twin Cities locations.

As many consumers hesitate to return to any kind of normal, the demand for online groceries will continue to accelerate, which drives focus for operational efficiency like never before.

Walmart speaks about AI systems underlying Express Delivery, which range from a logistics algorithm that accounts for conditions to an alerting platform that prioritizes orders for a network of over 74,000 personal shoppers.

Prices are high for these special treats, but by buying them, you are helping to keep these treasured restaurants in business.

PepsiCo launched a pair of new online shopping websites for snacks this week, attempting to take hold of the quarantine marketplace that’s changed the world in the first few months of 2020.

Moo Cow Market and L.A. Bodega on Wheels are helping consumers in SF and LA gain access to fresh, local food, while also employing workers and supporting struggling small businesses during this period of historic unemployment.

A California-based technology company specializing in digital promotion and analytics has partnered with Shipt to offer digital coupons.

California officials say COVID-19 is spurring underage alcohol purchasing

Chicago food delivery services will be required to come clean about third-party delivery costs under new rules championed by heavy-handed Mayor Lightfoot.

Grocery delivery service Grocemania is expanding into new regions across the UK amid huge demand during the coronavirus lockdown.

Online supermarket Ocado said retail revenues surged by 40.4% over the past two months as demand soared due to the coronavirus pandemic.

UK's Pret A Manger and major supermarket chain Morrisons are expanding their online delivery services on Amazon.

UK grocers are increasing their channels for getting deliveries to customers, with Morrisons expanding its same-day grocery offering via Amazon Prime while Asda has launched a grocery box.

Strict limits on when Muscovites can leave their homes have increased demand for Yandex’s delivery apps, whose user numbers have grown 75 percent since March, while also driving more people to its search, blogging and streaming video platforms.

Leading independent online grocery service MYGROSER today announced enhanced its delivery capabilities to further support consumers and businesses in Malaysia as the country grapples with its pandemic response.

Market Kurly, a fast-growing grocery delivery startup, announced on Friday that it has attracted 200 billion won ($164.3 million) in Series E funding.

China’s Dingdong Maicai has raised $300 million in a new funding round that values it at $2 billion, two people familiar with the matter said, as the online grocer benefits from a rise in demand for fresh food delivery amid coronavirus-related restrictions.

StoreSe.in, a new grocery delivery platform, on Monday announced the launch of its services in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region starting this week. In partnering with offline retail brands such as Vishal MegaMart, Modern Bazaar, Metro Cash & Carry, MORE & others, StoreSe aims to provide "guaranteed delivery within 24 hours."

After a number of states across the country allowed home delivery of liquor to cater to the needs of people during the lockdown, the Food delivery company Zomato also planned to venture into delivering alcohol.

Keeping the COVID-19 severity in mind, a slew of gated communities have tied up with companies such as Apollo Hospitals, ITC, Metro Cash & Carry, among others.

The liquor industry along with restaurants, bars as well as some online food aggregators have urged the government to permit home delivery of alcohol, saying this will not only ensure social distancing but also be a lifesaver for sectors ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis.

ABB has entered into an agreement with Norway’s largest grocery wholesaler ASKO, and its owner NorgesGruppen, to supply charging infrastructure for its growing fleet of electric trucks.

Board games and pizza belong together — and Deliveroo feels the same. The delivery service is now offering board games for purchase alongside its usual meals with a range of classic titles available for customers in Melbourne.

Instacart's CEO told Bloomberg business has been so good that the company has already hit its sales goals through 2022. But veteran shoppers told Bloomberg a different story — that the influx of new workers and Instacart's push for efficiency has exacerbated existing issues around poor working conditions.

The Modesto Bee spoke with people who staff the region’s large distributions centers and major retailers like grocery and discount stores.

Amazon's head of operations stated in a 60 Minutes interview that he does not know the total number of Amazon employees who have become sick with the coronavirus. He said tracking the total number of cases is "not a particularly useful number," because the infection rates at Amazon's fulfillment centre match or are lower than the cities they are in.