Trends

Keeping the foodservice equipment marketplace up to date with the latest menu and concept trends.

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Early Lessons on Food Delivery

While the practice of ordering food with a device remains in its early stages, Rabobank analysts believe the continued rise of the on-demand economy will have a lasting impact on take-out and retail food segments.

 

Source: RabobankConsumer spending at restaurants and other foodservice venues exceeded grocery bills for the first time last year, says Paula Savanti, Rabobank senior research analyst, consumer foods. Based in the Netherlands, Rabobank Group provides banking and financing to food, beverage and agribusiness industry. “Competition for the consumer’s food dollar has never been greater.”

Rabobank purports that new technology-driven services will only increase food delivery’s popularity and dubs the new era Food Delivery 2.0. Rabobank analysts expect some shake-out given the amount of money currently flowing into the food delivery sector: not all players will survive. Still, the firm sees a long-term future for new platforms such as delivery apps, like Grubhub; meal kits, like Blue Apron, where customers prepare their already prepped meals; ready-made, chef-prepared meal delivery, like Sprig; and online grocery delivery, like Peapod (More in Trends, page 16).

Convenience remains the key driver in consumers’ decisions to use these services, Rabobank points out. But having leading-edge technology in the form of an app will not be enough to ensure success. Getting the logistics right, meaning getting the food from point A to point B as delivery times continue to shrink, will be essential.

London-based Technavio also released data on the global delivery and takeaway food market. The technology and advisory firm declared America leading the market and noted delivery companies are currently vying for position through price wars and promotional offers.