Grubhub Enlists in the Navy, Uber Eats Hungers for Teen Accounts
Celeb-backed fall flavors, Subway's stumbling sales
“In the naaavy!” 🎵 Evidently the execs at Grubhub are singing the hit Village People song today, as the 3PD launches at Naval Station Norfolk. And the team at Uber is belting out an even more family friendly tune, as Teen Accounts goes live in more locales. Read on for more details, and insights into Subway and some new celeb-backed fall flavors.
Today:
Grubhub Enlists in the Navy
Uber Hungers for Teen Users
Chart Time | How Subway Stacks Up
Celebs & Brands Team Up on Fall Flavors
3PD | Grubhub Deploys at Naval Station Norfolk
Grubhub is launching at a new locale: Naval Station Norfolk. The 3PD’s “Onsite” subsidiary is teaming up with The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) in what represents the deliverer’s first installation at a naval base. Through the partnership, the 100,000+ military personnel, their families and people living and working on the base can skip the line at restaurants in the base’s food court, and on base, by ordering food and beverages through the Grubhub app. Partnered on-base restaurants include Panda Express, Firehouse Subs, Burger King and Raising Canes, with more coming later this year. Personnel will show their base affiliation via geolocation, or scanning an on-site QR code.
The Big Picture: Grubhub continues to push its way into campus and specialty venues: colleges, hotels, stadiums, resorts and now military bases. These closed environments mean that once the contract is won, there’s no need to compete with the other 3PDs for each order. And with each hungry sailor now downloading the Grubhub app to his or her phone, that represents new customers that are likely to repeat that behavior off-base as well.
3PD | Uber Eats Expands Teen Account Rollout
Uber is bringing its “Teen Accounts” feature to new metro areas. While the offering originally launched in late May with a focus on the Midwest, the service is now headed to Richmond, Albany, Buffalo, Miami, D.C. and more. (No love for the West Coast?) Teen users will be able to order meals, but not alcohol. Parents and guardians will be able to monitor trip and delivery tracking on behalf of their minors. And only the highest rated drivers will be allowed to service these teenaged accounts.
The Big Picture: Enrollment is controlled by a parent or guardian, who adds a teen user to the family’s shared account, and is then responsible for billing and payments. Teen Account also has a number of ridehail focused safety features, including that the parent can contact the driver, the driver cannot edit the destination, and mandatory rider safety training.
CHART TIME | Stacking Up Sandwich Slingers
The world continues to digest the news of Roark Capital’s acquisition of Subway, as analysts spew thoughts on the long road ahead for turning around the sandwich chain. The above chart from Global Data shows just how far the brand has fallen, while its deli-based brethren continued to grow.
MENUS | Restaurants Turn to Celebs to Launch Fall Flavors
Tis the season for brand collabs, as a number of large restaurant groups launch new autumn menu items with a little extra star power. Dunkin Donuts is turning to Ben Affleck (in a nod to his Dunkin-esque Massachusetts heritage) and rapper Ice Spice (whose fans are named “Munchkins,” much like the chain’s branded term for donut holes) to launch the new Ice Spice Munchkins Drink. Other brands, like Sprinkles Cupcakes, are teaming up with celebrity chefs: meet the hispanic-heritage month themed La Gloria cupcake, designed by Top Chef’s Claudette Zepeda.
The Big Picture: Not every brand is quite there yet. While 7-Eleven this morning announced “It's Fall Y'all: Usher in Autumn with 7-Eleven's New Seasonal Bites” and declared itself the “OG To-Go Coffee Destination” the C-Store foolishly did not enlist the actual musician Usher to hype up its new fall flavors. This collab should be so easy: “Love in This Club Sandwich,” “My Boo Raspberry Slurpee,” etc. Now that brands have made pumpkin spice a summertime flavor, they’re gonna need to work harder to get an extra jolt of seasonal sales come fall. (Survey says apples are the new taste to watch…)
A Few Good Links
Walmart launches late night express delivery: 10 PM for orders placed as late as 9:30. Calif. Senate votes to restrict AV trucking — will Gov. sign bill? Papa John’s promotes new international COO; Del Taco names new President. Cartwheel partners with Pizza Roboto as latter plans expansion. Upside moves into mobile payments. GoTab launches Pocket POS. Toast unveils Cafes & Bakeries solution. Flexport’s new Revolution product builds off of Shopify Logistics acquisition. Japanese D2C snack shipping startup Bokksu buys competitor Japan Crate. Student loan payment resumption may negatively impact restaurant sales. How Sweetgreen improved margins. How Chinese food conquered delivery. Food & Wine announces 2023 best new chefs. Singapore to review regulations affecting Grab.
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