With its latest initiative, Instacart is firing back at the leading restaurant aggregators, such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub, which have been moving further into the grocery delivery space. Now, Instacart is retaliating, selling hot food. The online grocery platform announced Thursday (Jan. 13) the launch of its new Ready Meals Hub, with cooked foods from a number of Ahold Delhaize- and Kroger-owned top grocery brands already available. The news release billed these options as “cost-effective alternatives to restaurant takeout,” a clear play for aggregators’ customers. “With our new Ready Meals Hub, we’re dishing up inspiring, more affordable and nutritious food alternatives to restaurant delivery that make it easier for consumers to break up with takeout this year,” said Instacart Vice President and Head of Product Daniel Danker in the release. “We’re also helping retailers drive more sales and increase their ‘share of stomach’ when it comes to their customers’ daily mealtime decisions.” The news comes as grocers are increasingly trying to reposition themselves as not only purveyors of ingredients but as one-stop shops meeting all of consumers’ food and beverage needs. Discussing the opening of Kroger’s first in-store restaurant with Kitchen United Friday (Jan. 7), Ralphs Vice President of Merchandising Kendra Doyel reframed the store as an “answer [to] the all-important ‘What’s for dinner?’ question.” Meanwhile, Walmart, the largest grocery retailer in the world, has been adding multi-brand ghost kitchens to its stores, while other brands have been expanding and improving their grocerant offerings. Just as grocers are extending their reach to more kinds of food, consumers are increasingly viewing their food spending not as separate restaurant and grocery categories but as one connected “eat” category. The launch of Instacart’s Ready Meals Hub serves to further blur these lines. If Instacart can so much as make a dent in the ready-made meal delivery space, the market opportunity is sizable, suggest findings from the November edition of PYMNTS’ Digital Divide report, “Digital Divide: Aggregators and High-Value Restaurant Customers,” created in collaboration with Paytronix, which featured census-balanced surveys of more than 2,100 United States adults about their ordering behaviors. The study found that high-spending, high-frequency restaurant customers — those who spend more than $40 per purchase on average and who order at least once a week — account for 25% of all restaurant customers. Fifty-nine percent of these consumers use Uber Eats, 58% use DoorDash and 55% use Grubhub. The benefits for Instacart are clear if it can get into the meal-ordering rotation with these high-value consumers. Back in October, Instacart announced the acquisition of catering software company FoodStorm. At the time, Mark Schaaf, Instacart’s chief technology officer, commented that the move was motivated by an aim to “ensure more of their customers’ everyday mea...

Meal Ticket, a business management solution for the food service industry, and MarketMan, an inventory management platform for restaurants, have an announced a merger backed by a $100 million investment from the growth equity firm PSG. The companies announced their merger Wednesday (Jan. 12), saying it would join their software and provide “more automated, efficient interactions between food service distributors and restaurant operators.” Founded in 2011, Meal Ticket’s platform offers distributors “customer-first” insights to help better serve clients and increase sales. MarketMan, launched in 2013, lets restaurants manage orders and inventory, monitor the cost of food and analyze back-of-the-house operations to save time and drive profitability. The two companies say they will continue to operate their existing products while developing new offerings together, and plan to “significantly” expand Tel Aviv and New York office staff, with a special focus on the engineering and product development teams based in Israel. “Meal Ticket and MarketMan are natural complements to each other’s businesses,” said Wink Jones, CEO of Meal Ticket. “Meal Ticket analyzes over $40 billion in supply chain transactions from its food distributor customers, while MarketMan has a significant footprint of over 7,000 paying restaurant locations around the globe buying from thousands of distributors.” MarketMan CEO Noam Wolf added that the deal was a “unique opportunity” to continue serving restaurants, “but also accelerate the development of the platform.” “With significant new investment capital from PSG, an experienced growth investor in B2B SaaS and payments, as well as significant resources and expertise from Meal Ticket, we will be able to push forward a variety of exciting product initiatives for years to come,” Wolf continued. PYMNTS spoke to Wolf last year as part of a roundtable discussion about embedded payments. He spoke about the realization that embedded payments, tied to a range of other restaurant management tools, presented a great revenue opportunity. As Wolf put it, some entrepreneurs focus on building better horses, not on upgrading to cars. In other words, they’re thinking about working with the tools they have, rather than imagining what they could have.

The Girl Scouts partner with DoorDash for on-demand cookie deliveries, and Just Eat Takeaway leverages its scale to outlast competitors. Plus, food delivery services struggle in the United States to become super apps. Square Adds On-Demand Delivery in Canada Square has launched delivery for Square Online orders in Canada through DoorDash Drive, DoorDash’s white-label fulfillment platform, making Canada the first international market to offer on-demand delivery after the service launched in the U.S. in 2020, according to a Wednesday (Jan. 12) press release. In the US, Food Delivery Services Struggle to Achieve Super App Status Food delivery services have the opportunity to quickly become indispensable. Yet, while some apps around the world have been able to parlay this relationship into other categories — becoming super apps that fulfill the bulk of consumers’ digital needs — none in the United States have been able to follow in their footsteps. Just Eat Takeaway Aims to Leave ‘No More Oxygen’ for Competitors Globally Around the world, in the competitive food delivery category, the win condition is shifting. Where in 2020 and 2021, the goal was to capture the largest market share, now the stakes are rising. On a call with analysts Wednesday (Jan. 12) discussing its fourth quarter 2021 financial results, delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway shared that its goal now is to outperform rivals to the point where they bow out completely. For On-Demand Cookie Delivery, Girl Scouts Ditches Grubhub for DoorDash With the door-to-door sales model proving questionable at best amid widespread contagion concerns, Girl Scouts are once again taking a hybrid approach to cookie sales, this time with a new digital ordering partner.

Food delivery platform Delivery Hero is expecting to break even during the second half of this year and become profitable next year, according to a company blog post Monday (Jan. 10). “Delivery Hero has always been investing in growth initiatives, with the clear ambition of reaching the scale needed to achieve profitability,” Emmanuel Thomassin, chief financial officer of Delivery Hero, said in the announcement. “We have remained confident that through achieving the right size, we are able to bring tremendous benefits to all partners in our ecosystem, as well as to our shareholders.” Thomassin added that the company’s investment strategy has so far proved successful, and “we are on a solid trajectory to turn our food delivery business profitable” sometime in the second half of 2022. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Delivery Hero has operations in approximately 50 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. The company has processed more than 791 million orders — a 52% year-over-year growth, according to the company’s website. Delivery Hero’s own drivers delivered 50% of all orders in the second quarter of 2021. Delivery Hero is also focusing on quick commerce, which it calls “the next generation” of eCommerce, and is striving to deliver groceries and household goods to people in less than an hour — often in 10 to 15 minutes. Delivery Hero has been listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange since 2017 and became part of the leading index DAX (Deutscher Aktienindex) in 2020. “I think it is fair to say, living up to our guidance, then we should be in a good position to choose if we want to be profitable in 2023,” CEO Niklas Östberg told Reuters. Last month, Delivery Hero acquired a 39.4% stake in Barcelona-headquartered unicorn delivery app Glovo. The deal is anticipated to close in the middle of this year and will give Delivery Hero 83.4% ownership in Glovo, up from 44%. The delivery giant also sold its $150 million ownership stake in Latin American delivery company Rappi, which equals most of the investment it had made in the company,

A Texas bill went into effect offering new protections to restaurants on third-party aggregators’ marketplaces, and Starbucks informed employees of new vaccine and testing requirements. Plus, James Walker, CEO of Buyk, discusses the state of ultrafast grocery delivery. Food Brands Take on QSRs With Ready-Made Meals For all the noise about consumers’ newfound interest in cooking since the rise of the stay-at-home economy, many are still looking for ways to get their meal needs met without all the work of preparing them from scratch. This need for convenience has led to the rise of delivery and pickup orders and to the proliferation of ghost kitchens, but it is also bringing a new category to the fore: the ready-made meal. New Bill Increases Third-Party Delivery App Transparency in Texas On New Year’s Day, a new Texas law went into effect designed to protects restaurants from predatory practices by third-party delivery services, according to Austin.Eater.com. Proponents say the legislation provides transparency protections to customers and restaurants as the industry recovers from the impact of the pandemic, according to the report. Consumers Want It Now — And Delivery Services Are Responding We’re in the early days of the Bring-It-To-Me-Now economy, and the emergence of digital payments has made the entire process more convenient. Sure, you can leave your house to do your grocery shopping or get your dinner, but you truly don’t have to if you know the right place to look. It seems that more people than ever know exactly where to find and how to get whatever they need, with millennials leading the way on this new way of doing business. Arcos Dorados Taps dLocal for McDonald’s In-App Payments in Uruguay Arcos Dorados, the world’s largest independent McDonald’s franchisee, is turning to dLocal to power in-app payments for its fast-food restaurants across Uruguay, according to a press release on Tuesday (Jan. 4). The collaboration with dLocal will give people using the McDonald’s app for food delivery the ability to complete purchases using credit and debit cards. Starbucks Issues New Employee Vax Mandate as Restaurants Take on Omicron With COVID-19 cases breaking records each day, the restaurant industry is entering 2022 in a very different place than operators would have guessed just a month earlier. These surges come alongside already scheduled federal changes mandating new controls for vaccinations and testing. Starbucks told employees on Monday (Jan. 3) that it would require all its United States employees to be fully vaccinated or to get tested each week, Reuters reported. Ultrafast Grocery Delivery Makes Its Way Inland as Competition Heats Up While ultrafast grocery delivery services operating in New York City — a list that currently includes Getir, Buyk, Jokr, Fridge No More, Gorillas, 1520 and DoorDash — compete to win the loyalty of the crowded market’s early adopters, much of the rest of the country remains hugely underpenetrated. Yet, with...

A containership operated by Ocean Network Express (ONE) has suffered a container collapse in the Atlantic Ocean while en route to New York. ONE confirmed the incident on board its M/V Madrid Bridge. The accident took place January 7, 2022, at approximately 0800 UTC, while on passage from Singapore to New York, USA. The ship’s owner, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K Line), said there no injuries and no loss of containers with dangerous cargo. The number of containers lost overboard or collapsed on deck is unknown. The vessel is now proceeding to New York. ONE’s update said the incident is under investigation and delays are expected. “We remain in close contact with the Charterer, ONE (Ocean network Express). All the relevant authorities were immediately informed and an investigation into the incident is underway,” according to K Line. The MV Madrid Bridge is a 14,6778 dwt containership built in 2018 and flagged in Japan. It is 365.94 meters in length and has a cargo carrying capacity of 13,900 TEU. K Line Ship management is the ship’s manager. Madrid Bridge is operated on ONE’s East Coast 4 (EC4) Service. Weather products from NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center shows a 954 mb hurricane-force low over the central North Atlantic on January 7. A sea-state analysis shows significant wave heights of up to 13 meters associated with the storm.

Uber Eats has proven the great lengths it will go to complete a delivery to an unusual address — the International Space Station (ISS). On Saturday, the company successfully accomplished its first food delivery from Earth to space, bringing a meal to the astronauts on board. Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, who is also described as a "delivery superfan," served as the delivery person eight hours and 34 minutes into his 12-day orbit in space, according to the Associated Press. Traveling 248 miles, he floated into the ISS on Dec. 11 at 9:40 a.m. ET and delivered the space-appropriate meal of ready-to-eat canned Japanese food. "Thank you for coming to space," ISS commander Anton Shkaplerov said upon receiving the food in a brown Uber Eats paper bag. Upon his successful delivery, Maezawa, who was dressed in a white T-shirt, shorts, and an Uber Eats cap, said in Japanese, "I just delivered some delicious food. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to handle the first food delivery to space." The order included mackerel simmered in miso, chicken and bamboo shoots, braised pork, and a Japanese beef bowl. "One small handoff for Yusaku Maezawa, one giant delivery for Uber Eats," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "We're over the moon to have helped make the first successful delivery to space. Our goal is to help people go anywhere and get anything, so we're proud to serve the astronauts at the International Space Station." Khosrowshahi gave Maezawa some slack for his longer-than-normal delivery time, adding that he gets a thumbs up, "even though it took a bit longer than the usual 30 minutes to arrive." To celebrate the 248-mile delivery, Uber Eats is offering $10 off orders of $20 or more to the first 24,800 customers who use the code SPACEFOOD from Dec. 13 through 19. Maezawa is one of the first self-paying space tourists to the ISS since 2009. The 46-year-old hasn't disclosed the exact sum he paid for his 12-day excursion, but hinted that it's in the $80 million range, according to the Associated Press. As for his partnership with the food delivery service, he said, "Uber Eats' initiative and sense of adventure is inspiring. I will never stop challenging myself, and I hope that everyone continues to do the same. Let's make the world a better place!" The entrepreneur's outer space delivery came on the same day as Good Morning America co-anchor and former football star Michael Strahan's trip to space on the Blue Origin.

Food delivery service Deliveroo plans to open its own restaurant, and grocers pivot to offer restaurant meals. Plus, Steph So, head of digital experience at Shake Shack, speaks with PYMNTS about the ordering channels key to restaurants’ omnichannel futures. Restaurants Compete to Make Loyalty Programs Stand Out as Consumers Join Multiple Programs Most consumers returned to dining inside restaurants in 2021, but recently developed habits and digital preferences are determining the strength of their loyalty to their favorite restaurants, according to recent PYMNTS research. Many consumers’ affinity for digital conveniences makes technical features a must for increasing customer loyalty. Bell and Howell's Bid to Help Grocery Stores and Retailers Monetize the Last Mile James Hermanowski, general manager of Bell and Howell, tells Karen Webster that if 2020 was the year of the great digital pivot, we’re now in the age where grocers (and other verticals) need to make buy online, pick up in-store self-service options and delivery more profitable. Seeing the Writing on the Wall, Major Grocers Enter the Restaurant Space Taking a tip from Walmart, Kroger is entering the ghost kitchen space. The grocer announced Friday (Jan. 7) the opening of its first pickup and delivery restaurant in partnership with ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United at a Ralphs store in Los Angeles, California’s Westwood neighborhood. Deliveroo’s Restaurant Efforts Could Spell Trouble for Merchants on the Platform United Kingdom-based food delivery company Deliveroo is entering the restaurant space, avowing that its goals are limited to this one location, but if the company’s ghost kitchen efforts are any indication, there could be more down the line. Shake Shack Head of Digital Experience: ‘Frictionless Will be Absolute Table Stakes’ “I think the bar will continue to raise in terms of guests wanting that personal experience, and then I think that the winners in five years will be those who can really differentiate their experience beyond that,” Steph So, head of digital experience at Shake Shack, tells PYMNTS in an interview.