A restaurant delivery business linked to CloudKitchens CEO Travis Kalanick has set up shop in Los Angeles, promising batched deliveries from multiple restaurants with no fees or tips. LA-based Picnic refers to itself as a “digital food court” for office workers and apartment dwellers. According to its website, customers can use Picnic to order from …
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Delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats would have to let customers know what restaurants are paying them under a bill filed in California last month. Under the terms of SB 1490, delivery providers would have to provide an itemized breakdown at checkout showing the fees, commissions and other costs charged to the restaurant for that …
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Tiffany Rogers wanted a permanent home for her catering business. Jay Freeman planned to expand an existing restaurant. Latisha Clark hoped to pursue her passion for feeding people. One by one, the chefs found their way to Carnegie Food Hub, a CloudKitchens facility in Cleveland’s MidTown neighborhood. They were drawn in by a proposition of …
Continue reading “AT A CLEVELAND CLOUDKITCHENS, OPERATORS SAY THEY WERE SET UP TO FAIL”
Eric Roldan had always wanted to open a restaurant. Drawing on his Puerto Rican heritage, the menu would feature plantain-based dishes like jibaritos and mofongo. It would also have a mojito bar. He’d always envisioned it as a sit-down place. But then Roldan’s business partner told him about CloudKitchens, a company that rents kitchen space …
Continue reading “CLOUDKITCHENS SOLD THESE RESTAURANTS A DREAM. WHAT THEY GOT WAS A NIGHTMARE”
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) has become the first U.S.-based investor in Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE: UBER), known to have backed CloudKitchens, the “dark kitchen” startup run by the ride-hailing company’s controversial co-founder Travis Kalanick, the Financial Times reports. The investment was part of CloudKitchens’ $850 million funding round that closed in November 2021, valuing it at $15 billion. The cash gain …
For some budding restauranteurs, CloudKitchens might sound like a great opportunity to get off the ground. The service, owned by Uber founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, promises restaurateurs delivery-only kitchens in rented warehouse spaces with low startup fees. But a report from Insider reveals that many CloudKitchens operators are struggling to keep their business alive due to a …
Continue reading “The Uber of ghost kitchens sucks, apparently”
India’s Ola, which has expanded to select international markets and set ambitious goals for its electric vehicles business, is struggling with selling food. So it is making major changes to its food business. The ride-hailing giant is pivoting Foodpanda, the Indian business of the food delivery startup it acquired in late 2017, to focus on in-house food brands, sources familiar with …
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Uber Technologies Inc. is already delivering billions of dollars’ worth of food for local restaurants. Soon it could be taking over their kitchens, too. The ride-hailing giant is testing a program where it rents out fully equipped, commercial-grade kitchens to serve businesses selling food on delivery apps like Uber Eats. Last year, Uber’s food delivery …
Continue reading “Uber and Travis Kalanick are in business again. This time, as competitors”
