News Aggregation: Food

Aggregated News Topic: Food

Specific: Food Delivery Services in SF

"In 'Overcrowded' Food Delivery Market, Venture Capitalists Are Still Hungry for More" - Bloomberg Business

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-23/in-overcrowded-food-delivery-market-venture-capitalists-are-still-hungry-for-more

Key Points: 

• "1/3 of all US food delivery services raised first round of funding in past year"
• "Food delivery companies have been attractive acquisition targets"
• DoorDash will accept orders from restaurants that it does not have an agreement with -- i.e.        In N Out
• Companies valued at hundreds of millions of dollars 

"DoorDash Is Gearing Up To Dash Past The Billion Dollar Milestone"

https://www.hungryforever.com/doordash-is-gearing-up-to-dash-past-the-billion-dollar-milestone/

Key Points:

• 8 months ago DoorDash collected $40million from venture capitalists
• Company valued at $600 million
• Sequoia Capital said to lead new investment for company
• In N Out  lawsuit

"Your Pizza's Cold? Blame Your Food App -- Not Your Courier" - Backchannel

https://medium.com/backchannel/your-pizza-s-cold-blame-your-food-app-not-your-courier-9d1d123ad2e8#.jc43jvt6a

Key Points:

• Postmates and DoorDash algorithms do not take couriers into account 
• Some impossible deliveries with distance and SF hills
• Hourly pay is unpredictable
• "Given that these companies can't deliver food without us couriers, it's remarkable how unfinished their support services are"
• **In Comments section, two people asked the author to look into being a courier for their companies: SimpliRoute and Caviar

"The High Price of Delivery App Convenience" - The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/technology/personaltech/the-high-price-of-delivery-app-convenience.html?_r=0

Key Points:

• Smartphone is almost "magic remote control"
• Fees are complex and often unnoticed by consumers 
• Instacart "worst offender in hiding extra costs in certain transactions"
• Many costs inflated by at least 20%
• UberEats -- food selection small, drivers may possibly just have large sums of the food ready while driving for anyone who orders
• Couriers and people running apps are humans prone to error -- pricing, delivery, ordering, etc.