Food Delivery
Super article on NY Times on Food Delivery. Marc Lore, the entrepreneur behind Diapers.com and Jet.com, would like to disrupt food delivery. But he really wants to build a brand that actually lasts.
Summary
- Marc Lore’s Ventures: Marc Lore, known for founding Diapers.com and Jet.com, has invested in various projects since leaving Walmart.com in 2021, including a nuclear fusion start-up and plans for a new city.
- Wonder Startup: Lore’s latest venture, Wonder, aims to revolutionize food delivery with a focus on quality and speed, starting with cooking vans in New Jersey suburbs and expanding to physical locations.
- Growth and Investment: After a $350 million capital raise, Lore took over as CEO of Wonder, with personal investments over $200 million and plans for an IPO targeting a $30 billion valuation12.
- Operational Strategy: Wonder’s approach involves electric equipment for cooking, centralized food prep, and a goal to limit delivery zones to within 10 minutes for efficiency and quality control.
What we liked
- Abandoned the meals on wheels (not enough parking it turned out)
- Went to kitchens
- 10 locations, bought Blue Apron
- Nestle $100M
- Deal with Walmart to go into four stores
- Aiming for $30B valuation
- Chipotle took 30 years
- locations where customers can order, pick up, and, at least in theory, dine in at some tables.
- No gas — all electric (using 3 pieces of equipment for all)
- “Lightly trained labor”
- delivery orders make up around 10 percent of all restaurant transactions, according to the food service consultancy Technomic; a 2021 poll conducted by Gallup showed that three-quarters of respondents ordered delivery at least once a month, with 14 percent ordering more than once a week.
- The Amazon story on diapers is great
- Fast fine category — $7 burgers and $11 burritos, but also a $26 pork chop, $34 steaks, and other items in the “fast fine” category.