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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

ZeroCater

ZeroCater’s New Cloud Cafe Adds Flexibility to Corporate Catering

Corporate catering company ZeroCater announced today the national rollout of its new Cloud Cafe digital app. Cloud Cafe adds customizable subsidy functionality for employers and features personalized meal recommendations for employees.

Founded n 2009, ZeroCater partners with more than 450 food partners including commissary kitchens, cafeterias and restaurants to deliver meals and snacks to corporate offices.

You’d be forgiven if your first reaction to this news is, Wait, are there still enough people going into offices to justify office meal catering? There are big questions around what the future of office work will look like post-COVID, especially since vaccines are now (knocks on wood) on the horizon. But Cloud Cafe seems built for the gradual and eventual return to working in an office as this pandemic recedes.

Part of preparing for a post-pandemic office environment is the new sliding subsidy ZeroCaters Cloud Cafe now offers. With this feature, employers can choose how much or how little they want to pay for a worker’s lunch. This type of flexibility is beneficial for a company that can’t afford to have an on-site cafeteria but wants to offer something more than a vending machine to staff. Partial subsidies could provide a way to help attract and retain talent without breaking the bank.

But ZeroCater also says it can help employees get the most out of the meals they choose through its smart recommendations system. ZeroCater’s FoodIQ keeps track of your dietary needs and preferences to make meal recommendations. FoodIQ also lets you rate dishes and keeps track of all of this data for every employee to make better targeted food recommendations in the future. ZeroCater believes that if workers do have to come into the office, having better meals provided will translate into more satisfied employees.

The future of office work is still very much in the air and companies are figuring out how many of their employees will be remote. One idea emerging involves working from home and satellite offices spread out across the country. Instead of coming in all day every day, workers would come into the office certain days of the week.

ZeroCater isn’t alone in trying to navigate office lunches of a post-COVID workplace. Byte Technologies, which makes smart fridges, also pitches customizable subsidies with its smart fridge platform as a cost-effective means of getting office workers fresh food.

People may not be coming back to the office in droves quite yet, but ZeroCater is laying the groundwork for when they do and life gets back to normal.

Corporate Catering Service ezCater Raises $100M, Eyes International Expansion

Online business catering service, ezCater, has raised $100 million in Series D funding, the company will announce on Tuesday. The new investment is led by Wellington Management Company with participation from existing investors ICONIQ Capital, Insight Venture Partners and others. This brings the total amount raised by ezCater to $170 million.

EzCater’s marketplace connects businesses with catering services and restaurants across the county, as well as offering a suite of products to help restaurants receive and manage orders and deliver large scale meals.

In a press statement, ezCater says that it will use the new funding to “deepen its products, and expand internationally.” According to VentureBeat, ezCater has not announced which countries will will expand into first.

The money also makes a very public statement that ezCater is not going anywhere anytime soon. This could be important to winning new and keeping existing clients as the corporate catering sector appears to be entering a state of flux. In just the past few months, Square acquired Zesty, EAT Club acquired Farm Hill, and Peach laid off 33 percent of its staff.

Plus, the sheer size of the round could put added pressure on rivals such as Platterz ($21.7 million raised), ZeroCater ($17.6 million raised), and Forkable ($813,000 reported, but final amount raised unknown), all of whom can now be outspent by ezCater.

As we’ve said before, there isn’t much corporate catering services can do to differentiate themselves to customers. At the end of the day, companies are trying to keep employees happy and employees don’t care who delivered the meal, only whether or not the food is good and on-time. EzCater’s war chest will now tubocharge its scaling, and help it outlast (or acquire) its smaller competition.

SnackNation Raises $12M to Expand into Hospitality and Transportation Channels

I worked for a video game startup for a while and one of the best perks was the “wall of snacks.” Packed with free cookies, gummies, chips and more, it helped me pack on more than a few extra pounds by the time I left.

SnackNation is a startup that wants to satisfy snack cravings with food that’s better for you than gummies and chips, and the company just announced yesterday that it has raised a $12 million Series B round to help expand that mission (hat tip to Nosh). This latest round was led by 3L Capital and brings the total amount raised by SnackNation to $22.5 million.

SnackNation is a snack delivery service that “exists to inspire more conscious food decisions.” The company heavily curates its offerings, and according to Nosh, they only offer products that pass “an ingredient review and tasting panel.”

SnackNation has been focused on office snack delivery, and counts Microsoft and MailChimp among its customers. According to the SnackNation website, prices for offices start at $299 a month for 140 – 160 single-serving snacks (consumer boxes start at $9.99). SnackNation says the new money will be used to open up new distribution channels into hospitality and transportation, as well as to scale its direct-to-consumer business.

There’s no shortage of snack box subscription services out there, all of whom are looking to foist their treats on us, no matter the time of day. ZeroCater just raised $12 million to help fund its office snack endeavors. Byte Foods (one of our #FoodTech25 companies) built a more modern vending machine for fresh office snacks. As noted, SnackNation is moving into hospitality and transportation, and Cargo raised $5.5 million so Uber and Lyft drivers can sell you snacks while you ride.

With all this money and activity, it looks like the “wall of snacks” will be breaking free of the office and following me around everywhere. Good thing I work from home.

ZeroCater Raises $12 Million to Satisfy Office Snacking

ZeroCater, a startup that provides office catering and snack services, announced yesterday that it has raised a $12 million Series B round of funding. The round was led by Cleveland Avenue, with participation from Romulus Capital and Struck Capital, and brings the total amount raised by the company to $17.6 million.

A post on the ZeroCater corporate blog said that the new funding will go towards expanding into new markets, increased menu and snack variety, and new hires. According to TechCrunch, ZeroCater wants to bolster its snack and drink offerings available in the fridge and pantries of offices in a bid to compete food service companies like Aramark.

While it attempts that, ZeroCater still has to fend off the raft of other startups looking to feed hungry office workers throughout the day. Just last month, Square augmented its Caviar food delivery by acquiring Zesty. In February, Canadian company Platterz raised $15 million (USD) for its “predictive meal builder” corporate catering. And outside the lunchroom, Byte offers smart fridges for offices healthier snack options.

ZeroCater told TechCrunch that it wants to provide companies with tools that offer deeper insights into worker preferences, and also give companies more granular control over exactly what food items are purchased for maximum enjoyment.

With all these eating options available to people who sit at their desks all day, perhaps a little more funding needs to go into corporate exercise routines.