Grubhub’s commitment to independent restaurants extends far beyond facilitating deliveries. We view these businesses as the very foundation of our success. And, we recognize the significant role the U.S. restaurant industry plays as the nation’s second-largest private employer, providing livelihoods for over 12 million people. Beneath the vibrant culinary landscape, however, lie very real challenges. Thin margins pressure restaurant operators and frontline workers face limited pathways for economic advancement, with just four percent advancing to entry-level corporate jobs and receiving the accompanying wage and experiencing growth.

This understanding fuels our year-round impact focus on supporting independent restaurants. During Small Business Month, our efforts intensified as we engaged in a series of strategic initiatives designed to bolster the thousands of independent restaurants that power our platform while simultaneously cultivating greater opportunity within the broader hospitality sector.

Grubhub is a proud founding supporter of MORE, a first-of-its-kind coalition focused on building a thriving, equitable, and enduring restaurant industry. By uniting around this common goal with other organizations, including The James Beard Foundation, Regarding Her Food, and Women In Hospitality United, we are accelerating collective impact, driving innovative solutions, and advancing economic mobility across the restaurant industry. MORE’s vision is to replicate and scale successful regional programs focused on culinary training, upskilling and career development programs, and initiatives removing barriers to entry for marginalized communities.

“Grubhub’s early support of our mission, continued partnership, and commitment to impact has been transformational for our work,” said Elizabeth Murray, Co-founder, MORE. “Together we’ve built a collaborative network across a diverse group of organizations, unlocking new opportunities for shared learning, creative partnerships, and expanded programming. Moving forward, MORE will continue to leverage our combined resources to deliver solutions that meet multiple, intersecting needs and drive enormous social and economic impact for all our stakeholders – workers, operators, employers, and the communities they serve.” 

Since 2022, the Grubhub Community Fund has worked closely with Women in Hospitality United and other founding partners on the development and launch of the MORE Coalition since 2022. Today, the Grubhub Community Fund continues to support MORE’s coalition launch and public awareness efforts. 

Our commitment to empowering restaurant entrepreneurs extends to our partnership with Feed the Soul. With grant support from the Grubhub Community Fund, we’ve helped enable the launch of the Culinary Business Network (CBN), a new digital platform designed to provide on-demand, educational resources to food entrepreneurs across the country, with grant support from the Grubhub Community Fund. For less than $1 a day, restaurants and caterers will have access to business development resources, including how to grow your customer base, streamline operations, grow your revenue, stay ahead of industry trends, and more. The CBN is designed to meet entrepreneurs where they are, providing the resources they need to scale their businesses effectively.

“For the past five years, the Grubhub Community Fund has been more than a supporter of Feed the Soul Foundation; they have been a true partner,” said Juana Collins, Executive Director, Feed the Soul Foundation. “We are excited to collaborate with Grubhub on our new Culinary Business Network digital platform, a space designed to help businesses connect, share ideas, and access valuable resources to grow and succeed. This partnership is about more than funding; it’s about building a stronger future for the culinary industry.”

Partnering with Feed the Soul for the last five years, the Grubhub Community Fund has distributed more than $1.2 million to local restaurants across the country, and our more recent support of the development of the Culinary Business Network will allow us to continue to help small business restaurants in their growth journey. 

Through our partnership with The Hatchery Chicago, the Grubhub Community Fund has helped power its Incubation Cohort. This six-month program is meant to help early-stage entrepreneurs developing a consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brand – including snacks, beverages, baked goods, catering company, meal delivery, or food truck – launch their business. The latest cohort engaged in monthly sessions covering essential food and beverage business strategies complemented by hands-on exercises with helpful templates and resources to deepen their learning. The program wrapped with a pitch and sampling event for guests at The Hatchery, where participants celebrated their program graduation and journey of turning their business concepts into reality. 

Since 2023, the Grubhub Community Fund’s support has enabled scholarships to Chicago’s West Side residents participating in The Hatchery’s programs. Additionally, we support The Hatchery’s efforts to develop and provide educational resources for restaurateurs, and help entrepreneurs solidify their business plans and complete all required licensing to launch and scale their restaurants. 

Beyond these strategic impact partnerships, we remain committed to supporting local restaurants through our day-to-day operations. In NYC, we recently brought back the $1 Cheese Slice as a part of our Seamless brand relaunch, helping drive awareness, recognition, and foot traffic to more than 40 local pizzerias across the city’s five boroughs participating in the pick-up only campaign. In Chicago, we launched Established 2020, a new award program to honor the local restaurants that opened their doors in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and defied the odds to remain open today. 

Through our operational initiatives and strategic impact partnerships, Grubhub will continue showing up for our independent restaurant partners. We believe in the power of a vibrant hospitality industry and will continue to support its growth and prosperity for years to come.