…An operator rose from the audience at the FOD Conference to expose a major bone of contention between restaurateurs and third-party delivery systems. “We are financing their growth,” he said, referring to delivery services like GrubHub and UberEats and DoorDash, yet delivery is “basically ruining a lot of mom-and-pop shops.”
…The commissions delivery services charge, ranging from 18 to 30 percent of the order, make many operators grumpy, especially when they hear third-parties brag about how much private equity is flooding into their space, allowing expansion into ever more cities.
…But two panelists pushed back, including, surprisingly, one operator himself. Jim Collins operates a restaurant in California, and is CEO of Kitchen United, which builds “ghost kitchens” or kitchens without a storefront restaurant that allow an operator to expand its delivery radius with much lower labor costs.
“There’s something interesting that’s been discussed in this conference, who owns that data?” Collins said. “I truly believe that the platform that acquires the customer should own the data. If GrubHub has acquired your customer, they should own the data,” and he urged operators to change their mindset.