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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Coronavirus

The Spoon team is working hard to bring you the latest on the impact of COVID-19. Bookmark this page for our full archive on the pandemic and how the food industry is embracing innovation to fight back.

On April 6th, The Spoon had a full day virtual summit on COVID-19 strategies for food & restaurants. You can watch all the sessions from our virtual strategy summit here.

You can also check out this COVID-19 resource page for food and restaurant industry.

Do You Have Enough Demand? Kitchen United CEO Discusses Pivoting To Ghost Kitchens Too Soon

Pre-pandemic, ghost kitchens looked to be the “it” trend of 2020. So you would think a global health crisis that’s forced dining room closures around the world and seemingly increased demand for delivery would have many restaurants rushing to embrace the concept. Ghost kitchens, after all, are restaurant facilities that operate solely to fulfill off-premises orders and require no front of house. If you wanna get technical about it, most restaurants are running ghost kitchens right out of their own stores right now. 

But after an email exchange with Jim Collins, co-founder and CEO of ghost kitchen network Kitchen United, I’m led to believe that restaurants shouldn’t necessarily go all in on a ghost kitchen strategy right now just because delivery happens to be one of the few order channels they can work with. “I think right now the industry is honestly in a state of shock,” Collins says. “As many restaurants work hard at this moment in time to remain operational, it’s nearly impossible to consider different models.” 

Instead, businesses should focus on strengthening their delivery strategies in-house, thereby laying foundations for off-premises orders that might one day warrant using large-scale ghost kitchen facilities.

Restaurants first need to understand if they even have that level of customer following and demand for off-premises orders. “Prior to the current situation we are in, we have always told operators that we are a good fit for them if they have an existing fan base, smart marketing in place and are looking to expand their market reach. The virtual kitchen model works best when there’s existing brand demand,” explains Collins.

The widespread shutdown of dining rooms may mean restaurants are pivoting to off-premises models faster, but we don’t yet have the numbers to tell us if demand for delivery is equally as widespread. A Technomic report from earlier this month found that only 13 percent of people think they will order more restaurant delivery because of coronavirus. Granted, that number was released before dining rooms closed down. Still, it suggests that until we see more numbers, we can’t really determine if restaurants will see the kinds of spikes in demand for delivery that warrant the use of a ghost kitchen facility like those of Kitchen United, DoorDash Kitchens, Kitopi, and others. Collins told me that even in a pre-pandemic world, Kitchen United won’t consider opening a facility “in a market with current delivery revenue less than $60 million.” He added that the company’s current locations are working towards significantly larger numbers than that. “You just need a lot of demand to make a delivery/take out only model work.”

Smaller chains without the deep pockets of, say, Chick-fil-A or Sweetgreen, should instead focus on making their in-house delivery strategy as efficient as possible. If you haven’t already (and I’m sure you have), take Collins’ advice and “get moving now.” He suggests opening as many channels as you can with third-party delivery providers like DoorDash, Postmates, and Uber Eats. However, instead of striking independent deals with each, go through yet-another third-party platform like ChowNow, which streamlines the setup and management of delivery orders. (Olo, Ordermark and Chowly are similar options.)

For those who’ve already used reservation and guest-management platforms like OpenTable and Resy, Collins suggests downloading the customer email lists and reaching out to those who’ve opted into marketing. “Make sure they know you’re open and available to serve them,” he says.

Another common piece of advice: optimize your menu for “people stuck at home.” Pare down your menu to only include food that travels well, and consider family-style options that can feed large groups of people. This is something Southern California-based chain Wahoo’s Fish Tacos has been utilizing over the last several days to generate more off-premises orders.

Since no one can foresee the future, especially when it comes to COVID-19, it’s impossible to say how long we’ll have to operate in this off-premises-only world. It could be that restaurants who survive this time will come out with a stronger delivery brand, so much so that when the dining rooms open up again and people are willing to sit in crowds, they’ll have the delivery demand Collins mentions to warrant looking into a ghost kitchen. Until then, getting the strongest delivery strategy possible remains the top priority for restaurants.

Mercato Can Get Independent Grocers Online and Delivering in 48 Hours

There is a conundrum in this time of COVID-19. While you’re supposed to shelter in place, you also want to support local businesses by getting groceries from your area market. But at least in our town, the local grocers don’t have online ordering or delivery. As a result, I turn to the big retailers (with decidedly mixed results).

But as with so many other segments of food tech landscape right now, startups are stepping up to help. Mercato is an online platform that enables independent grocery stores to have their own e-commerce and delivery operations. The Mercato platform takes care of all the order management and processing as well as online marketing, and connects stores with an independent network of 100,000 delivery drivers across the country.

Last week, Mercato launched a rapid on-boarding process with reduced setup fees that promises to get indie grocers online and selling in 48 hours. And yesterday, Mercato announced a partnership with wellness data company SPINS to provide stores with a more robust and customizable online shopping experiences.

I spoke with Bobby Brannigan, CEO of Mercato today, and he said that Mercato launched 20 grocers on its platform yesterday, and will launch another 40 stores today. By the end of this week, Brannigan said Mercato will be serving more than 1,000 stores.

“We help independent grocers compete,” Brannigan said, “They’re dealing with a massive surge in volume, it’s absolutely insane.”

The partnership with SPINS will integrate SPINS’ expansive product database into the Mercato system. This will allow independent grocers to broaden search and profile capabilities based on product attributes and nutrition content. For example, shoppers could search a corner grocery store on Mercato and filter products by items that are gluten-free or keto-friendly.

Though pricing depends on the number of stores and volume, Brannigan said that for the time being, Mercato has cut its setup fees in half, and that a subscription for it software starts at $349 a month.

As we’ve said before, the coronavirus outbreak is forcing the food industry to speed up the adoption of new technologies. Perhaps Mercato can be a lifeline to mom and pop grocery shops struggling to survive this outbreak, and create a great alternative for those of us stuck at home that want to shop locally.

Minnow Adds Disinfecting UV Lights to No-Contact Food Pickup Pods

Earlier this month, Minnow announced that it had installed its IoT-connected cubbies for food deliveries in seven locations in Portland, Oregon. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle-based startup just announced it will be taking extra steps to make its Pickup Pods safer and contaminant-free.

Chiefly, the company is adding UV lights to the interior of its cubbies to sterilize any food containers placed inside. However, we should note, while UV light does have the ability to kill some bacteria and viruses, it’s not 100 percent proven that it protects against the coronavirus.

Contactless food pickup, like Minnow offers, is already useful in a time when we’re trying to avoid touching things as much as possible (including our faces). For those who aren’t familiar with their technology: Minnow installs their pods, which contain 20 individual insulated cubbies, in public spaces like office buildings, apartments, and universities. Residents can pre-order lunch from a rotating menu of local restaurants via text or through the mobile web, then Minnow batches the orders and has them delivered all at once by one of their drivers.

The driver places each meal in an individual cubby and texts folks when their order is ready. Customers can then tap a hyperlink on their smart phone (no need to touch a screen on the actual Pod) to open the cubby’s automatic doors and grab their lunch.

According to an email from the company, Minnow has processed 4,000 food orders thus far. That’s significant, but currently most of Minnow’s pods are in office buildings. At a time when more and more people are being directed to work from home, that’s not exactly good for business.

However, a Minnow representative told me that the company is currently in talks with residential buildings about installing pods, which can be set up in as little as an hour and are totally turnkey (the company provides hardware, software, and support). Spaces lease them out for a monthly fee.

If folks continue to stay at home — and at this point, it looks like we’re going to be social distancing for a while — I could see services like Minnow’s pods gaining a foothold in apartment buildings as resident managers grow weary of coordinating delivery drivers coming in and out of the building.

There’s an obvious appeal for consumers. Even if delivery drivers drop off food at your doorstep, you still don’t know for sure if the container is sanitary, or how many people touched it on its way to your home. If you live in an apartment building, where you have to leave your home and go outside to get your order, that adds even more opportunities for contamination. Placing food in pods like Minnow’s, where they’re promptly disinfected by UV light, adds an extra layer of security that I imagine many people would welcome.

This might all sound over the top right now, especially since people are still allowed to go out and grocery shop and do takeout from their local restaurants (which you should do if you can!) But we don’t know how long COVID-19 will last. If quarantine measures escalate and paranoia around contamination grows, contactless and sanitizing tech like Minnow’s could be a helpful option for those hungry for food delivery.

Thank You, Walmart and Safeway, for Keeping Us Fed. Now Fix Your Confusing and Misleading E-Commerce

Grocery stores have been a bright spot in this otherwise dark time of global pandemic. Store workers are braving an on-edge public and risking infection to stock shelves or come out to our homes to deliver groceries. I appreciate and thank them for all their hard work.

So it’s not on the front lines where grocery stores have an issue right now. Instead, it’s on the back end, in the way big grocery retailers manage and communicate about e-commerce orders, where the problems seem to be happening.

Like millions of others, my family has been self-isolating for a couple of weeks, which means more grocery shopping online. I’ve used Safeway for delivery and Walmart for curbside pickup. Both have problems with the way they relay information about out-of-stock items.

Before going off on too much of a rant, I should note that I’m extremely lucky. My wife and I are still employed, we are sufficiently stocked with food, and if need be, we can easily and safely go to an actual grocery store. But there are a lot of people in worse off situations, and those people need a consistent and reliable method for ordering groceries from home.

I also understand that we are in unprecedented times, and as such, people are stocking up/hoarding, so some items are just aren’t available. I have yet to find toilet paper anywhere online, and evidently everyone is baking loaves of sourdough, so there’s a run on flour.

The problems I’ve encountered with Safeway and Walmart is that those platforms accept and process my online order, leading me to believe all items are in stock and that I’ll get everything I need/want. Then, literally a couple hours before the scheduled pickup or delivery time, I get notifications telling me some items are out of stock and I won’t receive them.

In the case of the Safeway, it was a delivery order that had been placed a week and half prior. So during that time, I assumed my entire order would arrive and didn’t make any other plans to get groceries. Thankfully, the only things the store was out of were flour and yeast (to make bread, he admitted, sheepishly), and not more necessary staples like eggs or milk. But there was a gap of a week and a half in between the time I placed the order and the delivery date. At some point in there, Safeway should have communicated that items are out of stock so I could figure something else out.

The same thing happened with Walmart when I ordered food for curbside pickup. The system accepted my order the day before, leading me to believe everything was a-okay! Then the next day, shortly before I drove to the store for pickup I got an email from Walmart that basically said, “Just kidding! We’re out of a bunch of stuff you ordered.” Some of the items, like toilet paper, I kinda figured might disappear, but there were also things like fruits and vegetables in there that suddenly couldn’t be fulfilled. This was more baffling because Walmart is a logistics and supply chain monster. Why, then, was the online ordering so far off from reality in the 24-hour period between when I placed my order and when I picked it up?

Again, the reason for this whole rant is that as we are told to shelter in place and avoid crowds (especially if you’re older), e-commerce will become increasingly important, depending on how long this outbreak lasts. It’s critical that people can feel confident in the online orders they place. I’m fortunate in that I have the time and means to compensate if something goes awry. But there are lots of people who don’t, and lots of people who can’t go into the store because they have young kids, or are sick who will rely on online grocery shopping. If it’s too difficult to align store inventory with demand at a store, then retailers should improve and clarify messaging around orders so that people understand that what they receive may change, and if it does, give them ample time to either prepare for the outage or make substitutions.

For the most part, online grocery shopping is great! And I really do appreciate all the work Walmart and Safeway are putting in quickly to make it happen. We just need to make some changes to make sure we aren’t worse off in these worst of times.

We’re spending every day tracking the impact of COVID-19 on the world of food. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our analysis and hear stories from the front lines.

These Coffee Bean Delivery Sites Will Help You Get Your Java Fix During Quarantine

Maybe you used to get your coffee at work. Or at a local café on your way into the office. Now that we’re supposed to be working (and staying) at home, how do you get your daily java fix?

Of course, there are plenty of coffee brewing devices out there, ranging from the simple to the high-tech and complex. No doubt you already have at least one kicking around your home.

But one crucial aspect for your home coffee routine that you will need to keep purchasing, quarantine or no, is the beans themselves. Sure, you could pick some up from your local grocery store, provided you’re comfortable doing that and don’t mind picking from whatever’s left on the shelves. Or order your beans via Instacart.

However, for those who seek a more adventurous rotation of beans — or can’t find artisanal beans at their local stores — there are plenty of delivery services happy to help you out. Here’s a list of coffee bean delivery sites that will mail curated packages of beans right to your door.

Photo: Crema
  • Mistobox can mail you over 500 coffee bean blends sourced from more than 50 roasters. Fill out a short survey and the service will suggest specific beans for you, or you can choose your own. Subscriptions to Mistobox start at $10.95 a month and can be delivered every one, two, three, or four weeks.
  • Trade Coffee asks you to complete a short quiz then recommends beans specialized to your tastes. You can either purchase the coffee through Trade or sign up for a subscription service to deliver beans ever one, two, or three weeks. Bonus: Right now Trade will donate $2 from every first purchase to support roaster employees. You can also leave tips for employees directly through their GoFundMe page.
  • Atlas Coffee Club is for java drinkers that want to take a (virtual) tour around the world — something that might be extra appealing now that we’re all stuck at home. Members of their coffee of the month club receive monthly shipments of beans, each sourced from a particular country. You can also buy beans directly on their site.
  • Passion House Coffee is a good option for coffee snobs (hi, it’s me!), especially if they’re having a hard time finding artisanal beans as coffee shops shut their doors. The company roasts each bag of beans themselves so they have absolute control over flavor and freshness. Bonus: They also deliver cans of cold brew!
  • Crema offers a short survey to guide you to a list of coffee beans, sourced from over 40 roasters, tailored to your taste and brew method. Coffees can be shipped every couple of days, weeks, or monthly. You can also buy 5-pound bags of beans if you’re going through a lot right now. Bonus: In response to COVID-19, Crema is currently knocking $1 off of every bag of coffee.
  • Counter Culture Coffee offers bags of beans available for individual purchase or subscription. It’s a single roaster, so you can get direct information about the source and processing of each roast and blend. You can also buy 5-pound bags if you want to stock up.
  • Just Coffee is a good option if you’re trying to prioritize ethical sourcing right now. The company is super transparent about their farmers and the environmental impact of each bag of coffee. You can buy single bags or sign up for a subscription.
  • If you have a favorite local roaster, you can also head directly to their website to see if they ship (they probably do). Support local!

It’s not much, but during this time when everything seems uncertain and like kind of a bummer, it’s nice to know you can count on getting something you love and rely on — like coffee beans — delivered right to you. Sometimes it’s the small things, you know?

Bringg Releases Its Delivery-Focused Software Feature BringgNow Early — and for Free

Delivery orchestration platform Bringg today announced a new product meant to help smaller restaurants, grocers, and convenience stores scale and manage their delivery operations. Called BringgNow, the product was slated for a release date later this year. In light of the surge in delivery orders as more people stay home, Bringg decided to launch the product now — and offer it to businesses for free.

Bringg is essentially a logistics platform for businesses that rely heavily on delivery orders. The Chicago-based company’s platform provides automatic driver dispatch, route optimization, real-time tracking, and reverse logistics. Arcos Dorados, Panera, Just Eat, and Walmart are among the company’s clients.

BringgNow’s features include a web dashboard that simplifies the process of creating and managing orders as well as tools that make it easier to assign deliveries to drivers and see their location in real time, manage driver fleets, and provide customers with real-time tracking of their orders. Since most smaller restaurants don’t have the means to employ their own driver fleets, the system also integrates with DoorDash and Postmates’ third-party delivery platforms. 

Quick onboarding is another feature Bringg is pushing with this release, though how long that actually takes is not quite clear. Upon submitting basic details (name, company name, phone number), users receive a message saying Bringg will be in touch with them “in the next 24 hours.”

Speed is key when it comes to delivery right now. As mentioned above, Bringg was meant to release BringgNow later this year. However, with so many businesses — particularly restaurants — now having to rely on digital ordering and delivery to even do business, the company is making the product available now, for free to new users.

They’re not the only tech company pushing new features and products at companies right now. Also this week, Presto announced it is giving away its Presto Kiosks to restaurants, and last week Sevenrooms unrolled a new feature called Direct Delivery that existing customers can add at no extra cost. Platforms like Ordermark, Chowly, and Toast are reducing or outright waiving various fees for restaurants as they look to quickly pivot to an off-premises model for the foreseeable future.

Sourdough Bread is Taking over Instagram Right Now

If you’ve scrolled through Instagram lately, you’ve probably noticed a sudden uptick in people posting about their #quarantinelife baked goods. But one in particular has people Insta-bragging like never before: sourdough bread.

Really, it makes so much sense that people are hopping on the sourdough bread train. Making it requires very few inputs (just flour and water), but also demands frequent care throughout a day — the kneading, proofing, and baking process takes around 24 hours total. But the end results are utterly delicious, even for inexperienced bakers. And bonus, you don’t have to go to the grocery store and risk contamination to get your bread!

As with many things in our digitally connected life — like workouts, beauty tutorials, and more — people feel the need to share their baking exploits on Instagram. In fact there are 2.7 million posts tagged #sourdough on the ‘gram right now. The fact that NYT Cooking’s lead newsletter story this week was about making your own sourdough means that we’ll likely be seeing a lot more #artisanbread posts coming our way over the next few weeks.

My first attempt at sourdough bread. [Photo: Catherine Lamb]

Being a good millennial, I had to try my hand at sourdough this week. I’d gotten a starter from a friend which had laid dormant in my fridge. A few days of feeding later, plus an intensive 24 hours of kneading, resting, and proofing near the heater in my bedroom, and I had two pretty good loaves of sourdough!

Did I share it on Instagram? Of course I did. And I got comments back of people sending me their own photos of sourdough, focaccia, pretzels, and other yeasty endeavors. One friend and I decided that we would do a loaf exchange for our next round of sourdough baking. Another asked me to drop off some of my starter so she could start baking, too.

Unfortunately, my sourdough ambitions are on hold at the moment since every grocery store I’ve visited over the past few days has been 100 percent out of flour. Which just goes to show — if social media didn’t illustrate the point enough already — that we’re all baking to relieve stress and feed our loved ones. Because when everything seems uncertain and sometimes downright scary, it’s reassuring to care for something else — even if that something else is just a sourdough starter.

Just don’t forget to post your results on Instagram. #Sourdough #naturallyleavened #wildyeast

Starship Robots Deliver Food Over Social Distances at Bowling Green

There is probably some grim metaphor in the fact that while people across the US shelter in place to avoid human contact, robots continue to roll out, making deliveries, unaware of the pandemic that surrounds them.

Ever since this outbreak started, we at The Spoon have wondered why autonomous delivery robots aren’t being used more often, especially in cities. As grocery and restaurant deliveries surge, robots could remove at least one human from the delivery equation (and they are a lot easier to scrub down after each use).

Turns out that Bowling Green State University is still using Starship robots for food delivery on campus, according to the Sentinel-Tribune. At least Jon Zachrich, Bowling Green State University Dining Director of Marketing and Communications, thinks that’s a good thing in these end times.

“I personally think it’s a good opportunity for social distancing, just because your only interaction is going to be with the actual robot, once it comes from our facility,” Zachrich told the Sentinel-Tribune.

He also spilled some factoids that I, as someone who follows the robot space, found interesting. The surface of the robot is non-porous, so it’s easy to clean. Zachrich also outlined some of the sanitizing protocols for the robot, saying that each robot is wiped down with disinfectant and anti-bacterial cleaners after each use.

On a more general interest note, Zachrich also gave us a glimpse as to how many orders the robots were running at Bowling Green before the pandemic. The robots debuted on campus on Feb. 20 and “Orders were quickly maxed out at over 750 per day,” the Sentinel-Tribune writes. Each of those came with $1.99 Starship delivery fee if you want to do the math on revenue generation.

That number has obviously dropped off as Bowling Green, like so many other colleges, has shifted to distance learning. Most restaurants on campus have closed, but the restaurants are still delivering to essential staff on campus and students who remained because they don’t have any other place to go.

This outbreak doesn’t seem to be subsiding anytime soon, especially in this country. With social distancing becoming the new norm, at least for the foreseeable future, perhaps more places will be like Bowling Green and get their own robots rolling across the social distance gap.

The National Restaurant Association Show for 2020 Is Canceled

Organizers have cancelled the annual National Restaurant Association Show, which was set to take place this May in Chicago. A letter posted today on The Association’s site calls the cancellation “unavoidable” as concerns around the spread of coronavirus grow and large gatherings are banned. 

The Association said it has been monitoring the situation for “many weeks,” including guidance from both the CDC and the governor of Illinois. The organization also said it had explored “numerous options” to keep the show going, though the letter doesn’t delve into specifics. 

The National Restaurant Association show is one of the industry’s biggest gatherings each year, bringing together tens of thousands of attendees, exhibitors, and speakers. The Show was set to include a keynote by former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, cooking demos by celebrity chefs like Rick Bayless and Anne Burrell, and numerous panels and workshops over the four-day event.

It’s the latest large-scale show to get the ax, following cancellations from the Inspired Home Show, the Natural Products Expo West, and of course some of the world’s largest events, including South by Southwest, E3, and Google I/O.

“Although these developments resulting from COVID-19 require that the 2020 Show not go forward at this time, we are looking forward to partnering with you to make the 2021 Show the best ever,” organizers said in the letter. 

Exhibitors and attendees who already registered will receive an email with further information and instructions on April 7. Meantime, Wingsight Exhibitions, which owns and operates The Show, said attendees and exhibitors could both email questions. 

Want to Help Restaurants Survive? The National Restaurant Association Suggests Just “Buy a Meal”

With restaurants struggling as they’re forced to adjust to the new restrictions in place to fight COVID-19, you, like us, are probably wondering “How can I help?”

There are almost too many options about where to put your dollars to aid struggling foodservice locations. You can buy gift cards, virtually tip your bartender, or donate to relief funds. For places that are still open, you can also order takeout or delivery, either from the restaurant themselves or through a third-party site like DoorDash or Grubhub.

So where’s the best place to put your dollars? That’s the question I posed over the phone this week to Vanessa Sink, Media Relations Director of the National Restaurant Association. According to Sink, the answer is simple: buy a meal.

“Restaurants still want to cook for us,” Sink said. “They’re safe, and they’re there to make sure that we’re getting good food and enjoying it.” If you can, order pick-up or for delivery directly through the restaurant. That way, they don’t have to pay super-high fees to third-party delivery services, which, despite their claims, are not cutting restaurants much slack right now.

Restaurants are trying desperately to get the word out about the importance of ordering to-go meals, while we’re still permitted to do so. Foodservice establishments have actually banded together to launch a new initiative called The Great American Takeout (#TheGreatAmericanTakeout on Twitter) to motivate people to order more to-go meals from their local restaurants. It’s launching today.

Maybe you don’t feel comfortable ordering takeout or delivery from restaurants at this time. And that’s okay. “We support whatever people can do,” Sink said. You can still donate to relief funds for restaurant workers and bartenders — there’s a comprehensive list right here. You can follow the New Yorker’s Helen Rosner’s advice and call your elected officials to demand government relief for restaurants and foodservice workers. If your favorite restaurants are selling gift cards, you can buy one for when this all blows over (but be aware there’s always a risk that the restaurant won’t return to full service).

Or you can see how chefs are getting creative in your area. In Seattle Eric Rivera is offering the sale of pantry items made in his restaurant as well as pick-up meals. Celebrity chef Sean Brock is doing live, private cooking classes. Famed restauranteur Hugh Acheson is offering contracts to come and cook at your house when the COVID-19 quarantine period is over.

Finally, no matter what you do, tip well. Hopefully together we can help more restaurants come out the other side.

Prioritizing Takeout is a Big Takeaway From Wahoo’s Fish Taco’s COVID-19 Response

As restaurants temporarily close dining rooms and many struggle to stay afloat, we’re starting to hear from specific businesses about their strategies for dealing with a world where “open for business” means being able to take and fulfill off-premises orders and no one is clear on when they’ll be able to once again open the dining room.  

One such business is Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. Wahoo’s is based in Southern California and currently operates about 60 restaurants across several U.S. states (as well as a location in Japan). The chain was founded by Chinese-Brazilian brothers Wing Lam and Ed and Mingo Lee back in 1988 as a way to bring their different cultures’ culinary traditions and styles together into a single restaurant.

Being around for 30-plus years means the brothers have seen their share of ups and downs in the restaurant industry, which so far is helping them better navigate the sudden and abrupt shift to off-premises business resulting from the spread of coronavirus. 

“We started delivery a week ago because we knew that was coming,” Ed Lee said of the mass restaurant closures that started last week.

During a phone call with me last week, he and Wing Lam explained that Wahoo’s has dealt with having to temporarily close before (after the 9/11 attacks), but that what we’re dealing with now is far more severe. “This is the first time we can’t get ahead of ourselves because everything continues to change,” says Lee.

That’s a polite way of stating the situation. The National Restaurant Association anticipates a $225 billion decline in restaurant sales over the next few months, and the loss of potentially millions of jobs. As mentioned above, entire states are mandating that restaurants close their dining rooms. Major chains are voluntarily shutting down all operations in certain parts of the world. And everything continues to shift so rapidly there’s no telling what the restaurant industry will look like in two days, let alone two weeks.

“Right now we’re looking ahead about two weeks at a time,” he told me. “Our number one goal right now is to make sure we take care of our customers and our employees.”

Wahoo’s is committed to offering delivery (“It is a battle that we’re stuck with,” says Lee). Another strategy that could be more financially beneficial to restaurants and workers is to emphasize takeout, where customers order ahead online then come to the store to collect their food.

The biggest challenge here is actually getting customers to understand the restaurant is still (for now) open for takeout orders. Whereas the vast majority of customers automatically associate quick-service restaurants like Wendy’s or even some fast-casual chains (think Chipotle) with to-go orders, there are many more restaurants in America people still think of as  sit-down establishments. But with 100 percent of orders now being off-premises ones, more has to be done to remind customers the takeout option exists.

Incentives for pickup orders are one way Wahoo’s is doing that. For example, customers who order a family-style meal for pickup and get free desserts as well as a gift card as a reward. There are deals on kids meals for those ordering food for pickup. Lee says the point of these incentives is to get customers to come back to the restaurant, both now and later.

Pickup orders also make more financial sense for the restaurant itself, because the commission fee owed to third-party services like Grubhub or DoorDash is much lower (there’s no driver to pay). Lee is quick to note that Wahoo’s doesn’t want to “get into a war with the delivery system.” That said, he adds that delivery “doesn’t make us a single dime.” Promoting takeout orders is a way around that. 

As an added benefit, it’s also a way for employees making the food to directly receive tips, something that doesn’t happen with delivery orders, where customers pay and tip online and the money only goes to the driver.

Questions around takeout as a business model remain. For now, it’s a viable way for restaurants to offer off-premises ordering and, unlike third-party delivery, connect directly with customers. That could change as the number of COVID-19 cases goes up and more restaurants close up entire operations. And unfortunately, it’s impossible to say right now if a state like California would implement mandatory closures for all restaurant operations, takeout included.    

Lee and Lam said they don’t anticipate seeing full restaurant openings until the end of May at earliest. Until they, they are trying to react to the ever-changing situation as best they can.”

“This is not going to be a tomorrow morning turn the lights back on. It’s going to be tough,” says Lam. “As a community we really need to get our act together and rally.” 

Presto Is Giving Away Free Kiosks to Restaurants in a Bid to Keep the Front of House Relevant

Presto this week joins the growing list of companies offering restaurants deals on hardware and software solutions geared towards the off-premises model most businesses now have to employ to stay alive. In an email sent to The Spoon, the company said it is making its Presto Kiosk product “absolutely free” to restaurants. 

Presto, which counts Denny’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Applebee’s among its clients, has up to now made a name for itself through products designed for the restaurant dining room, from wearable technology for servers to tabletop order and pay terminals for guests. However, with most dining rooms shut down now in an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19, it makes sense Presto is now promoting its self-service kiosk, which is the most to-go friendly option of all its products.

Like other kiosks, Presto’s is a standalone device guests can use to browse a restaurant menu and order and pay for their items. The kiosk software integrates with a restaurant’s main POS system and, according to the company email, “enables guests to order and pay safely without requiring any interaction with the restaurant staff.”

The company says it is waiving the integration and deployment costs of these kiosks, which restaurants can use “without any contractual obligations,” and that the devices can be set up and running in a matter of days. Existing presto customers who use the company’s tabletop terminals will have access to a software update that can repurpose the devices for taking to-go orders.

The question is whether it will be enough to help Presto keep its footing in a restaurant industry that suddenly finds itself with no dine-in guests, no servers, and really no front of house at all. Presto doesn’t yet offer any devices geared towards delivery or drive-thru orders, so highlighting its kiosk option is the company’s one way to stay relevant in this era of social distancing.

Plus, takeout is starting to look a little risky as an order channel. Earlier this week, Starbucks announced it was getting rid of takeout as an option because of the amount of foot traffic it was causing in the store. In an even more drastic move, McDonald’s completely shuttered all its U.K. restaurants as well as 50 locations in the U.S. Wendy’s also discontinued takeout services this week. Since these massive chains tend to set the standards everyone else follows, it could be a matter of just days before other restaurant chains start getting rid of takeout options.

On the other hand, a device that enables contactless to-go orders might be the only thing saving some restaurants who have no drive-thru option and may not be able to pay Grubhub its 30 percent commission fee for each order.