Dive Brief:

• DoorDash launched a new product called DoorDash for Work Wednesday, which allows businesses to offer their employees meal benefits and food perks through its platform. DoorDash for Work serves all meal occasions both for remote employees and workers that have transitioned back to the office. 
• There are four products within DoorDash for Work: The DashPass for Work allows companies to fund DashPass memberships for their teams as part of their employee benefits package; Expensed Meals lets organizations purchase and distribute DoorDash meal credits to employees that can be used at home or at the office; Group Orders are for essential employees who have returned to the office; and Employee Gift Cards.
• A recent survey from DoorDash found that 90% of American employees miss at least one food-related benefit of being in the office. Google employees have expressed similar sentiments, so this product could be a valuable incentive for remote employees. The program could also provide an additional revenue channel for DoorDash and its restaurant partners, especially during the lunch daypart.

Dive Insight:

Stanford University estimates that the coronavirus pandemic has shifted 42% of the U.S. labor force to a work-from-home capacity. DoorDash's product is a solution to this new work-from-home economy, and could recapture some of its lost lunch business.

It's not the only delivery platform to create such a service, however. In a statement emailed to Restaurant Dive, Grubhub noted that it has also offered companies a way to feed their employees through its Grubhub Corporate, which started in1999 and allowed Grubhub to help its corporate clients during the pandemic. 

Grubhub's program allows companies to open employee lines of credit to wherever those employees are working during the pandemic. It also allows companies to offer individual meals, group orders or catering. The company is also piloting meal credits timed with employee or client virtual events. 

In June, Uber for Business launched Vouchers for Uber Eats, which also allows businesses to provide meal plans for employees. The program expanded on Uber's corporate meal program, which was launched earlier in 2020 to improve productivity, retention and morale, according to a company blog. Uber for Business experienced a nearly 30% increase in customers from February to March. The Vouchers program enables businesses to provide customized meals for their employees at scale, whether for an individual meeting or a virtual event.  

Delivery companies have experienced tremendous growth through the pandemic as many dining rooms remain closed across the country. Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney and CFO Adam DeWitt even called the crisis a "permanent catalyst" for its business. Profits for those companies, however, still remain largely elusive, which makes it clear that the diversification of their businesses to become service companies that offer delivery is important.

Catering to the new workplace environment is a good place to start. The program could also boost business for restaurants that have taken a sales hit during the day. Already, 81% of restaurant operators believe third-party delivery have helped them avoid laying off employees during the crisis, and 72% of operators have experienced growth in third-party sales since March 15, according to a July study.