By RTN Staff - 4.20.2022
By 2025, pick-up and delivery is expected to account for 40 percent of restaurant revenue in the United States. Furthermore, online ordering has experienced 20 percent year-over-year growth for the last five years, due in large part to the proliferation of consumer apps and platforms offering convenience and a multitude of food options to customers.
Even so, restaurants remain plagued by operational inefficiencies, underutilized staff and resources and costly delivery fees that result in restaurants losing money on each delivery order. To truly streamline operations and improve the $800 billion food industry, restaurants need to leverage the proper technology to effectively manage, optimize and monetize their digital operations. This includes allowing restaurants to expand their offerings for a more diverse, delivery-focused brand portfolio.
Restaurant technology startup Mealco views these market conditions as ripe for its new technology platform, which early last year raised $7 million in seed funding from investors that included Uber and Postmates has now officially launched across the United States following six months of beta testing.
Mealco’s technology is purpose-built to help restaurants streamline operations, increase brand offerings and optimize their online presence to maximize customer reach. According to a company statement, over 250 restaurants in 80 U.S. cities already use Mealco to increase their revenue opportunities in today’s digital age.
Founded in 2019, the New York-based solution provider is also designed to help restaurants convert their back-of-house resources into a digital-friendly operation that can handle the high demand of online delivery, while keeping existing staff in place. This ultimately enables restaurants to create new revenue streams and maximize their bottom line.
Mealco’s benefits to restaurants include:
- Streamlined operations and managed inventory using technology built by restaurateurs for restaurants
- Simplified interactions with third-party delivery apps to meet customers’ expectations for a better, higher-quality food delivery experience
- End-to-end online presence management to maximize revenue opportunities from online channels
- Menu expansion and exclusive access to chef-crafted brands, matched to each restaurant’s unique capabilities and customer base
“Mealco is a true partner to Koo with its proprietary marketplace platform that is clearly differentiated from other restaurant technology providers,” said Vince Lam, Owner, Connecticut-based Koo Restaurant. “With minimal impact on our labor and resources, Mealco has provided us with a unique and simple solution to improve our operations in a market plagued with staffing challenges.”
“Having grown up working in restaurants, I have always been impressed by restaurateurs’ immense creativity, innovation and tenacity. At the same time, I have witnessed how difficult it is to run a restaurant, especially given the inefficiencies inherent in restaurant operations that manifest in stunted growth and, in the worst cases, result in failure,” added Daniel Simon, Founder and CEO, Mealco, who who was previously a developer and product lead at Applicaster. He has also worked with Tel Aviv-based restaurant group R2M.
“These experiences drove me to capitalize on my expertise in technology to develop a platform that arms restaurants with the information and tools necessary to succeed,” he said. “Our mission at Mealco is to be a restaurant’s long-term technology partner, helping to improve operations and increase revenue.”
