Food delivery has been a central part of people’s daily routines since the COVID-19 pandemic began. What was once a convenient dining option quickly exploded into an essential service to keep consumers fed and restaurants afloat. During this time, the industry has grown over 2X, and order sizes have increased by nearly 25%.
Despite this impressive growth, the pandemic has exposed significant shortcomings and a lack of innovation in this market. Customers are inundated with food options while kitchen inefficiencies and delivery fees cut into restaurant profits. As a result, over the last year, we’ve seen one in six restaurants in the US close permanently. For restaurants to thrive now and in a post-pandemic world, they’ll need a solution that optimizes the food prep and delivery processes so they can effectively lower their price point to appeal to broader markets without further compromising their margins.
Club Feast
This is the exact solution that Atallah Atallah, an industry veteran who previously co-founded Seated, Ghazi Atallah, and Chris Miao, have set out to build with Club Feast. While there are a number of on-demand, super convenient food delivery options, those services often tax restaurants at their busiest and come at a premium cost to the consumer. Club Feast instead offers access to high-quality, locally prepared meals as an order-ahead service.
With Club Feast, restaurants can curate their delivery menus to include their best selling meals that lend themselves to batch preparation and delivery travel. They’re better able to bulk prep and take advantage of off-peak times in the kitchen. The predictability gained when consumers place their orders at least a day in advance versus via on-demand, allows the restaurants to sell at a cost of less than $10 per meal in many cases. By finding efficiencies within the industry’s existing infrastructure, Club Feast has been able to create a win for restaurants that at the same time grows the overall market for meal delivery services.
The Team
We’re drawn to founding teams with the commitment, hustle, and the ability to think differently about the world. Atallah, Ghazi, and Chris have exactly that. Together, they saw an overwhelmed industry in need of innovation on the one side and on the other, consumers awash in delivery options but maybe not always at widely-affordable price points. To them, what Club Feast represents is a true business and technology innovation that has the potential to benefit all parties involved.
Today, we’re excited to share that we’ve led a $3.5 million seed investment in the Atallah and his team. We look forward to seeing the company continue to expand in and beyond the Bay Area with their high-quality, affordable services.
Bon Appétit!
— Niko Bonatsos & Team GC