Silverado vs Zoomo EAV
Grocer gobbled up, Taco Bell's new CEO, AI cooks up something new
As we head into the holiday-adjacent weekend, some of you might already be popping open beers and setting off fireworks. There’s plenty to get excited about in today’s newsletter too — let’s dive in! 🎆
Today:
Big & Little Vehicles
Specialty Grocers Merge - Can They Get Tech Ready?
Chart Time | Taco Bell’s Succession Plan
AI Is Ready for Your Order
VEHICLES | Don’t Let the Silverardo EV Distract You from The Zoomo EAV
GM turned heads with the announcement of its 2024 Silverado EV Worktruck, the all-work and no-play version of its popular pickup. Instead of chromed out rims and self driving doodads, this truck is meant to get shit done: it can tow 10,000 pounds and go 450 miles on a charge. One thing that does sound luxurious to us though is the price — $77,905 — a more than 50% premium on Chevy’s gas-powered variant, and about $20k more than Ford’s EV pickup. Even if you’re delivering mountains of construction supplies, or hauling the world’s most valuable cargo, it’s gonna be tough to make those numbers work.
Context: We’re way more excited about another delivery vehicle announced this week, the Zoomo EAV. While these urban friendly pedal-vans have been available for sale (£10,995 and up) for a little while, this new partnership with Zoomo means they’re available for short term lease — making it way easier for urban deliverers to “kick the tires” on a new type of vehicle. Once they see how much easier, and cheaper, these kinds of contraptions make moving goods in cities, we think they’ll be hooked.
M&A | Heritage Grocers Acquires El Rancho, Can They Deliver the Goods?
While Kroger and Albertsons’ pending tie-up has been sucking up all the media and regulatory oxygen for months now, regional and specialty grocers have continued to merge and acquire one another, attracting far less attention. The latest is SoCal-based Heritage Grocers Group, which is gobbling up Texas’ El Rancho Supermercado, bringing the specialty grocer’s unit count to 113. (Side note: there needs to be a better way to refer to these companies than “ethnic grocers” - what is this, 1950?)
Context: Even though grocers often continue to operate under multiple banners, these mergers let them economize in a razor-thin industry. The real question is if the savings will be enough to let them invest in their languishing digital and delivery operations. Take a look at some of their brands — El Rancho, Tony’s, Cardenas — and note how aged their websites look, and how much of an after-thought any sort of delivery offering is.
CHART TIME | The Market Likes Taco Bell’s Succession Plan
HBO-fodder this is not, as Taco Bell’s CEO succession looks to be drama free. The Yum-brands owned mexican-ish food-ish purveyor announced that Mark King, who has helmed the company since 2019, is stepping down on Jan 1. He’ll be replaced by Sean Tresvant, who currently serves as the company’s Global Chief Brand and Strategy Officer. Tresvant has been responsible for a number of the company’s recent iconic marketing moments: partnerships with Milk Bar, Crocs, Pete Davidson, Beyond Meat, and more. His elevation shows just how important staying in the public eye is for a brand, especially as a digital presence becomes more and more important. You need to make people excited to fire up that T-Bell app! Evidently the market agrees with this move - the stock is up since the announcement.
AI | “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” 🔴
We’re not sure what founder Dave Thomas (or for that matter, astronaut Dave Bowman) would think of it, but a few weeks back Wendy’s announced it was deploying Google-powered “FreshAI” to speed up its drive-thru operations. Then Instacart jumped on the AI bandwagon by offering up ChatGPT enhanced search. Now it’s Jack in the Box’s turn, as they’re teaming up with InMoment to use AI analytics to “uncover guest insights.”
Context: We don’t think AI is gonna replace the teenager taking or delivering your order too soon, but there are less-flashy ways it can improve the customer experience. JitB hints at some: offering customers’ promotions at the right time, automatically collecting and assessing feedback, etc. We chatted with Bryan Pollard, Co-Founder of AI-for-restaurants startup Ask Alex, and he added, “AI revolutionizes marketing, labor, and technology, empowering restaurant operators to elevate their businesses. By integrating AI into existing processes, small and large chains can unlock new levels of efficiency and profitability.”
A Few Good Links
Meal kit brand Home Chef celebrates 10th birthday. Sales slowing for small and mid-sized chain restaurants. FedEx sees freight dropping, local delivery moderating. Remotely piloted vehicles head to Vegas. Knight-Swift bags U.S. Xpress. Driver wages up 15.5% YoY. Heavier vehicles may need to pay more in New York - let’s see if this gets expanded to include commercial vehicles…
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