Last-mile delivery

Margarita with dehydrated citrus garnish
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Top 2022 Grubhub & Uber Eats Drinks

Top 2022 Grubhub and Uber Eats Drink Orders

by David Klemt

Margarita with dehydrated citrus garnish

The year-end Grubhub 2022 Delivered and 2022 Uber Eats Cravings reports identify this year’s delivery order drink trends.

Last week, we dove into Grubhub and Uber Eats’ top food orders. If you haven’t already, read that article here.

This week we’re going to check out what drinks were most popular in 2022 for both platforms.

Top Grubhub Coffee Orders

People are still working from home, full- or part-time. So, it makes sense that consumers are placing coffee orders for breakfast, snack, and lunch dayparts.

  1. Iced Coffee
  2. Hot Coffee
  3. Iced Caramel Coffee
  4. Iced French Vanilla Coffee
  5. Frozen Coffee

Top Grubhub Milk Alternatives

Of course, with coffee orders come milk orders. And as you’re probably well aware, milk alternatives are only growing more popular with consumers.

So, below are the top milk alternatives among 2022 Grubhub users.

  1. Oat Milk
  2. Almond Milk
  3. Coconut Milk
  4. Soy Milk
  5. Cashew Milk

As a possible explanation for the dominance of oat milk, sustainability could be a driver. According to available data, producing a pound of oats is much more sustainable than producing one pound of almonds.

It’s believed that oats are more favorable when it comes to basically every measure of sustainability.

Top Grubhub Alcohol Orders

I can’t say that I’m shocked to find the Margarita is the top cocktail order. It is, after all, the long-reigning Queen of Cocktails.

  1. Beer
  2. Margarita
  3. Hot Sake
  4. Piña Colada
  5. White Wine (Sauvignon Blanc)

I’ll admit that I’m slightly surprised that a red wine isn’t among the top five.

Top Uber Eats Alcohol Orders

Interestingly—perhaps a bit frustratingly—Uber Eats took a different approach to identifying their top drinks.

Rather than dedicating space solely to alcohol orders, their top drinks are part of combinations. As in, the “most frequently paired food + alcohol” combos.

So, here’s their list in its entirety:

  1. Steak + Margaritas
  2. Pizza + White Claw
  3. Burritos + Margaritas
  4. Chicken + Sangria
  5. Wings + Beer

However, there’s another drink in the Uber Eats “most unexpected food combos” section:

  • Ham + Cream Cheese
  • Fruit Roll Up + Hot Cheetos
  • Pickles + Whipped Cream
  • Popcorn + Pickle Juice
  • Dark Chocolate + Tomato Salad
  • Pizza + Applesauce
  • Sushi + Ranch
  • Peanut Butter + Pizza
  • Cheese + Martinis
  • Watermelon + Mustard

Therefore, we can reasonably extrapolate that the top 2022 Uber Eats alcohol orders are the Margarita, White Claw, Sangria, beer, and Martini.

Takeaway

If we compare reports and look for similarities, we see that two drinks are at the top: beer and Margaritas.

Both make sense. Beer, in can, bottle, and growler forms, travels very well. That makes beer ideal for delivery where it’s legal.

And as far as Margaritas go, there’s a wide array of canned options available. Again, canned cocktails travel well for delivery. Of course, restaurants and bars can also obtain the equipment to prebatch and package their signature Margaritas.

Ideally, your POS system can run reports to identify which drink orders are most popular for your delivery customers. Also ideal: operators should take as much control over their business as they can, implementing direct delivery as long as it’s feasible.

So, look into direct delivery, run your reports, and take more control while reducing costs.

Image: Edward Howell on Unsplash

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Rise of the ‘Not’ Delivery Platforms

Rise of the ‘Not’ Delivery Platforms

by David Klemt

The big third-party delivery services are facing pushback in the form of community-based competition.

We’ve kept our eye on this burgeoning trend and the push for operators to implement first-party delivery, also known as direct delivery.

It isn’t directly related to hospitality but the first of the “not” sites that grabbed our attention was Not Amazon. As the name suggests, Not Amazon is…well…not Amazon.

The founder highlights businesses owned and operated by women and BIPOC and LGBTQA+ people. However, Not Amazon goes even further, as illustrated in their mission statement:

“Providing the most we can, while taking as little as possible, in order to build a new kind of community.”

Community and neighborhood support is at the core of Not Amazon. The digital era has been marked by local, mom-and-pop brick-and-mortar businesses suffering in the wake of online shopping. Convenience has outweighed community. More often than not, women-, BIPOC- and LGBTQA+-owned businesses have been disproportionately affected by “convenience.”

Of course, it makes sense with a global pandemic to shop online. Not Amazon, which currently serves Calgary, Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver, provides a viable alternative to its behemoth of an online retail counterpart.

That brings us to two compelling hospitality industry-specific platforms.

It’s not a secret that KRG Hospitality supports first-party and last-mile delivery. In fact, we’ve very clearly explained that operators lose guest data and control over the guest journey when they sign with a third-party delivery company.

That’s to say nothing of the fees third-party services charge their F&B “partners.” Is it convenient that DoorDash, UberEats, Postmates and other companies provide a semblance of infrastructure, the lure of reaching a larger pool of customers, and drivers (including the associated liability)? Sure.

But are the costs associated with doing business with a third-party delivery company worth it? Most likely not.

Studies have also shown that when a delivery goes wrong on the third-party’s end–cold food, for instance–it’s the restaurant that tends to get the blame.

There are two websites that, like Not Amazon, have popped up to put supporting local restaurants front and center: Not UberEats and NotGrubhub.

The former serves Toronto and operates as a non-profit, according to their FAQ page. The latter is mainly focused on the United States, offers the option to purchase gift cards, and is powered by Lunchbox. NotGubhub also boasts more than 100,000 direct ordering links.

Both operate in similar fashion: Restaurants submit their information to be added to the respective platforms, provide an ordering link, and obtain a listing. From there, people can search by location for restaurants in their area to place a delivery order.

In the case of NotUberEats, deliveries are fulfilled by Ritual or DoorDash. As noted on their FAQ page, Ritual is offering Toronto restaurants free delivery through 2021. Restaurants can also DoorDash because, as NotUberEats explains in their FAQs, the service is charging a flat rate and not collecting any commissions.

People can also send restaurant information to NotUberEats to help grow their listings. Anyone who wishes to do so is asked to provide at least 50 businesses in their city and submit them here.

Operators ready to make the move to first-party/direct delivery and own their guest journey should consider the following platforms:

With delivery here to stay, the sooner operators transition to direct delivery, the better. There’s no longer a reason to lose control of guests, a profitable operational element, or costs.

Image: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Delivery and Takeout Food Trends for 2021: Canada

Delivery and Takeout Food Trends for 2021: Canada

by David Klemt

Patrons, analysts and experts have spoken: delivery and takeout will remain standards in the new era of hospitality.

Analysts and experts have spoken with data, and consumers have spoken with their dollars.

But there’s another consequential voice that matters when it comes to delivery: that of the operator.

There’s no denying that the operator is shoved aside in the third-party delivery relationship. At the very least, that’s the overwhelming perception. Once an operator signs on with such a service, their guest data becomes the delivery company’s data.

Whatever company owns the data owns the guest, their journey and engagement, and the targeted marketing efforts. That means a restaurant or bar’s guests receive offers and promotions for their competitors.

In short, third-party delivery platforms disrupt the guest journey.

However, there are some data the third-party delivery services do share. As we saw midway through 2020, for example, Uber Eats and Grubhub released the top orders and other useful information in publicly available reports. Some of the services also release end-of-year or year-in-review reports, as SkipTheDishes did for Canada.

Most of these reports are laser-focused on the United States. That’s logical given the number of bars, restaurants and other hospitality businesses to which Grubhub, Uber Eats, Postmates, Instacart, Seamless and other services have access.

SkipTheDishes, for the Americans reading this, is the Grubhub of Canada. For the Canadians reading, below are SkipTheDishes’ data regarding top orders, cuisine, and demographics in 2020:

  • Top Cuisines: Chinese, Italian, American/Canadian
  • Top Orders (General): Asian dishes, pizza, burgers
  • Top Orders by Item: Chicken sandwiches (also the top item in 2020 in the US), burgers, and French fries (mid-year data)
  • Top Vegan Provinces: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia
  • Top Organic Provinces: British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta
  • Top Gluten-free Provinces: Manitoba, Alberta, The Maritimes
  • Top Dairy-free Provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, The Maritimes
  • Top Kosher Provinces: Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan
  • Top Dayparts: 5:00 PM was the most popular order time, and late afternoon (3:00-4:00 PM) and weekdays saw lifts. Late-night ordering (9:00 PM and beyond) slowed. (Mid-year data.)
  • Top Pre-order Daypart: 5:00 PM. More Canadians got into the habit of pre-ordering their dinners. (Mid-year data.)
  • Fastest-growing Segment by Age Group: 65+
  • Most Revealing Datum: 81% of customers ordered from restaurants they’d never visited in person.

That was last year. What’s in store for Canada this year? A scan of a few sources—Food Network Canada, Restaurants Canada, and Chatelaine—offers some valuable insights.

Plant-based items and foods recognized for boosting a person’s immune system are expected to be popular. The pandemic has given many consumers a reason to reevaluate what they’re putting into their bodies. All three sources predict people will be interested in and order plant-based foods and focus on health and wellness.

Both Food Network Canada and Chatelaine predicted chickpeas—an inexpensive, versatile and plant-based protein source—will be among the top food items sought out by restaurant guests (in-person) and customers (takeout, delivery). Most operators should be able to adapt and get creative to add chickpea-based items to their menus. The two sources also predicted that snacking will replace meals (at least occasionally), so snackable items and sides may take off this year.

Food Network Canada pointed to sauerkraut as an example of a health and wellness food item that may see a boost in popularity and demand due to its probiotic and gut health properties. The source also predicted that coffee and coffee-based F&B items will get a lift in 2021.

Restaurants Canada predicted that comfort food, popular throughout 2020, will remain in high demand. However, 2021 will bring in an interest in elevated riffs on comfort food classics. Citing specific examples, Restaurants Canada suggested Pad Thai French fries and Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese. The Canadian food industry association predicted that interest in and support of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) cuisine, flavors and businesses will continue through 2021.

All three sources listed plant jerky as food item to watch in 2021.

What else should be in store for this year? Operators embracing first-party or so-called “last-mile” delivery to grab their share of the orders of this year’s trendy food items. Platforms such as Lunchbox, Olo, ChowNow can provide operators with the ability to own delivery and therefore the entire guest journey in the new era of hospitality. It’s likely an operator’s current POS can be updated to “unlock” in-house delivery, which would then need to be supported by a delivery menu, delivery supplies, and staff training.

For more information about first-party and last-mile delivery, please listen to Bar Hacks episode 13 with “Rev” Ciancio, an advocate of keeping delivery and data in-house.

Image: Norma Mortenson from Pexels

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