Dive Brief:
- Digital convenience store Gopuff is hiring over 100 employees to serve as line cooks, leads and district managers to be part of its Gopuff Kitchen team across Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, according to the company's website. The job openings were originally reported by Hngry.
- These employees will prepare fresh food and manage delivery orders within the company’s new ghost kitchens operation, according to the job listings. The company declined to provide any updates on its Gopuff Kitchen operations.
- In December, the company experimented with fresh food delivery with the launch of Street Eats in Philadelphia and Denver, delivering meals from popular food trucks, but this would be its first foray into providing its own fresh-made food to its customers.
Dive Insight:
Gopuff, which was founded in 2013, has been quickly growing its operations across the country, operating over 275 micro-fulfillment centers in over 500 U.S. cities offering various convenience store and grocery products for delivery charges of $1.95.
In March, the company raised $1.15 billion in funding, doubling its valuation to $8.9 billion in five months. At the time, the company said it would use the investments to support geographic expansion, new product categories, hiring and to boost technology. With the large number of Gopuff Kitchen positions advertised, the money will also likely help get its ghost kitchen operations off the ground.
During this major growth period, Gopuff also purchased rideOS in June, a startup that develops routing, dispatch and fleet optimization technology for delivery and logistics. While the acquisition was seen widely as a play in the grocery space to expand its 30-minute delivery to reach more urban areas, the ability to cut delivery times could also position it well with restaurants. Among the top criticisms customers have of food delivery is that it often arrives lukewarm.
At the same time, Gopuff Kitchens would enter a crowded and growing ghost kitchen segment. Reef Technology, Kitchen United, Combo Kitchens, Ghost Kitchen Brands are all expanding with new locations and brand partnerships. Virtual brand platform C3 has plans to reach 12,000 locations by 2023 through its new partnerships with Chowly and Reef Technology.
Gopuff Kitchens also highlights the growing hybridization of grocery, convenience stores and restaurant operations. Walmart, for example, partnered with Ghost Kitchen Brands earlier this year to provide takeout and delivery of various well-known restaurant brands like Saladworks, Quiznos and Taco del Mar. Having a freshly made food component can also help Gopuff better compete with brick-and-mortar c-stores, such as 7-Eleven and Wawa, that have been expanding their food options within the last few years.
