News Category: Community Impact

Partnering to Fight Food Insecurity in Our Communities

We have a responsibility at Grubhub to make a real difference by supporting initiatives and organizations that are closely tied to our longstanding efforts to connect diners and restaurants. In 2019, nearly 14 million households in the U.S. were food insecure, meaning they lacked the resources to feed their family members. That number is likely much higher today given the effect of COVID-19 wiping out millions of jobs which has resulted in more than 19 million people suddenly finding themselves without work and a secure income.

We aren’t alone in our efforts, as we have the support of the generous 28 million diners who, through our Donate the Change program, can opt-in to round up their total to the nearest dollar with the difference being donated to a charitable cause or public interest organization.

  • When we first launched Donate the Change in 2018, we teamed up with No Kid Hungry, a national campaign, to help end childhood hunger and have a transformative impact on the lives of millions of kids who struggle with hunger. Since then, we’ve raised more than $16 million dollars for No Kid Hungry through diner donations and Grubhub’s match, which is enough to provide up to 160 million meals to children in need across the country.*
  • In March when COVID-19 started to impact people across the country, we knew we had to act. That’s why we established the Grubhub Community Relief Fund, a donor-advised fund, to support local and national charitable organizations that provide relief for those who have been impacted by COVID-19, including restaurants, delivery partners, and those in need. Since March, we’ve raised $12 million dollars to fund the Grubhub Community Relief Fund and donated nearly 850,000 meals and counting to organizations dedicated to feeding those in need.

From the East Coast to the West and dozens of cities in between, our Grubhub Community Relief Fund efforts have reached communities across the country through the work of these organizations:

MEANS Database and Rescuing Leftover Cuisine donate food from independent restaurants to people in need in their local neighborhoods. Through MEANS Database, Grubhub’s support is used to purchase leftover food from restaurants in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Providence, Las Vegas, Oakland, Denver and San Francisco to provide to local nonprofits, including Open Door Missionary Church, World Harvest Food Bank, Common Pantry and Providence Rescue Mission.

Our support to Rescuing Leftover Cuisine is used to purchase meals from Black-owned restaurants and has allowed the organization to expand its “sponsor a meal” service to Boston. These meals are going directly to nonprofits including the New York City Housing Authority, Neighborhood Coalition Shelter, St. Ambrose Family Shelter, Queens Together, Boston Public School families, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, Cambridge Family & Children’s Service and Finex House. To support its Boston expansion and honor Hunger Action Month in September, Grubhub and RLC spent a Saturday delivering locally made meals to those in need in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. Representatives from St. Ambrose Family Shelter, Boston Public Schools, Neighborhood Charter School and State Rep. Liz Miranda were there and helped deliver the food to recipients.

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“As our team at the St. Ambrose Family Shelter adjusted to working through the pandemic, we saw an immediate and exponential increase in need for food, and we began researching ways we could help the communities find additional resources. With the help of Grubhub and Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, we were able to quickly increase our ability to assist more families and individuals, and we have been distributing meals to people daily for the last six months, at times as many as 100 meals per day. We don’t see the need for food assistance decreasing anytime soon, so we are very grateful to Rescuing Leftover Cuisine and Grubhub for their commitment to helping people in need and helping me and my team remain a stable and reliable presence for our communities in these increasingly difficult times.” – Rick Freitas, Director, St. Ambrose Family Shelter

As the birthplace of Seamless, New York is near and dear to our hearts and we’ve partnered with three local organizations whose efforts are specifically focused on feeding vulnerable populations and frontline workers: World Central Kitchen, the Food Bank of New York City and Tacombi Community Kitchen.

World Central Kitchen has activated a network of restaurants and foodservice providers to safely produce individually packaged fresh meals that are delivered to the elderly, schoolchildren, and vulnerable communities across the United States. In Brooklyn, Grubhub’s support allowed World Central Kitchen to pay restaurants for these meals and handled delivery logistics. Additionally, we partnered with Word Central Kitchen for a virtual Sound Bites series in August that featured Lupe Fiasco and UMI. Fans were encouraged to leave a comment sharing their favorite delivery order in the YouTube livestream chat during the performance, and we donated $100,000 ($1 for every comment) to World Central Kitchen to help them support Black-owned restaurants and communities in need.

Providing emergency meals to New Yorkers impacted by the economic downturn and COVID pandemic, the Food Bank of New York City supports more than one million New Yorkers every year through its network of more than 1,000 soup kitchens and food pantries. Our support is used to purchase food to be distributed across the five boroughs. In September, Seamless and the Food Bank partnered to host five pop up food distribution centers at iconic locations in each borough throughout the month of September in support of Hunger Action Month: The Barclays Center, Yankee Stadium, Lincoln Center, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden and The New York Hall of Science. More than 100,000 meals were distributed to nearly 11,500 New Yorkers in need.

“More New Yorkers are facing hunger than ever before as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With food lines wrapping around city blocks, shining a light on rising food insecurity in NYC was especially important for Food Bank during Hunger Action Month. With so much in the balance for our NYC neighbors, we are so grateful for Seamless’ support in helping us provide meals to everyday New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet.” – Janis Robinson, Vice President of Institutional Giving and Partnerships at Food Bank For New York City

Pivoting from its original mission of supporting community education initiatives in Mexico, The Tacombi Foundation launched the Tacombi Community Kitchen (TCK) to redirect its efforts to provide healthy Mexican meals to New York families most in need in Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. Our support funded a portion of the distribution of these meals to organizations, including Mercy Center, MASA, Voces Latinas, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Mixteca Organization and LSA.

We’re also providing support to the Boys and Girls Club of America to help reopen their doors across the country. Many members of our community have been able to continue working throughout the pandemic, including restaurant workers and drivers which has brought support to many of us. During this time, many daycares and schools have been closed or limited in the services they are able to provide. The Boys and Girls Clubs across the country provide a safe environment for parents to bring their children while they are working on the frontlines. We have been able to support The Boys and Girls Club of America in more than 35 cities, including: Chicago, Harlem, Philadelphia, Providence, Worcester, Detroit, Sacramento and more. A portion of our support to these clubs reopened the Chicago, Southeast Louisiana, Harlem, Philadelphia and Providence feeding and pantry programs and continues to help cover the cost of meals for the children at these local clubs. With these feeding programs, parents don’t have to worry about whether or not their child will have a meal that day.

We’re committed to giving support and resources to help combat hunger and are grateful we can partner with local restaurants and organizations that have the same dedication and mission. We look forward to continuing our good work in communities across the country.

*$1 can provide up to 10 meals. Meal equivalency varies during COVID-19 relief. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org/OneDollar.

Supporting Restaurants and Communities Through COVID-19 and Beyond

These are uncertain times, and while we can’t predict what tomorrow will bring, we recognize our responsibility to do all we can to help keep restaurant doors open. Our business depends on restaurants like the local coffee shop, the burrito joint, the sandwich place, or that great wing spot. And over the last six months, we’ve seen restaurant owners and delivery drivers fill an essential need in their communities.

Put simply: We’ve made it our mission to support restaurants. That’s why we’re sharing an update on our efforts to help our restaurants and communities during this challenging time.

We spent $100 million to support restaurants, drivers and diners.

It became clear early in the pandemic that restaurants needed our support, first as a bridge to federal aid and then to help them survive this time through delivery and pickup orders. In early May, we committed to funding what we anticipated would be $50 million – from the start of April through the end of June – toward driving orders and keeping communities safe. When June came to a close, we had spent twice that amount.

  • $85 million went to driving more orders to restaurants through coupons we funded, reduced diner fees, and increased advertising. This investment stimulated more than $200 million of incremental sales for our restaurant partners.
  • $15 million went to protecting restaurants, drivers and diners. We sent 250,000 personal protective equipment kits to drivers and recognized their efforts with increased pay and more bonuses. We also provided restaurants with tamper-evident stickers giving peace of mind to restaurants and diners that their food would stay secure and untouched in transit.

We gave restaurants more flexibility.

As a demand-generation engine first and a delivery service second, Grubhub is rooted in products and features for restaurants to drive and fulfill orders in the ways that make the most sense for their business. Our established technologies have never been more important, and we complemented them with new offerings that serve restaurants, drivers and diners.

  • Offered since 2013, online ordering links make it easy for restaurants to add online ordering directly to their website. Grubhub does not charge a marketing fee on these orders because the restaurant generated the demand and they should keep the revenue. We’ve facilitated millions of orders to restaurants through these online ordering links.
  • We power websites, apps, loyalty programs and ordering platforms for restaurants through our in-house agency, LevelUp. These products showcase the restaurant’s brand, enabling them to build loyalty and drive delivery and takeout orders however is best for them. In the coming months, with our Grubhub Direct web product, we will also pilot white-label capabilities for SMBs to reach restaurants that previously didn’t have the resources to devote to a customized direct-order website.
  • Grubhub Ultimate now lets diners place in-person orders from start to finish on their smartphone via a QR code instead of touching a kiosk. We’re extending this feature to SMB restaurants without Ultimate by offering a free, custom window sign that includes a QR code for a contact-free pickup ordering experience without any marketing fees. We’ve already sent signs to hundreds of SMB restaurants.
  • Smart Promotions use data to help restaurants grow their orders. Restaurants use the Grubhub for Restaurants portal to specify goals and a monthly Smart Promotions budget, then Grubhub recommends and implements the most effective promotions for their business. We’ve also matched Smart Promotions budgets, allowing restaurants’ investments in these promotions to go twice as far.
    • We continually put data in the hands of restaurant owners through our Insights Dashboard on the Grubhub for Restaurants portal. The dashboard gives a detailed look at daily and weekly sales, orders, menu item performance metrics and trends, all in one place, with new data points frequently added to the dashboard based on feedback from restaurant partners.
  • We implemented contact-free delivery and curbside pickup to keep our restaurants, drivers and diners safe during the pandemic. Contact-free delivery is the default option for diners at check-out, and restaurants can offer curbside pickup to diners and drivers to prevent groups from gathering in the restaurant.

We dedicated more than $7 million and counting to local communities.

Since 2018, our Donate the Change product feature has allowed diners to support organizations that help those in need across the nation by rounding up their total to the nearest dollar. Our diners have collectively donated over $1 million per month through Donate the Change, enabling our charitable partners to make a big impact.

We established the Grubhub Community Relief Fund to provide financial relief for our community, including restaurant partners and drivers. More than $7 million donated by Grubhub and our diners is going to charitable organizations that support communities impacted by COVID-19. These include:

  • The Restaurant Strong Fund gives direct financial support to independently-owned SMB restaurants and their employees. Our donation goes to restaurants and their employees in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, New York City and Detroit.
  • MEANS makes it possible to donate food from independent restaurants that would have gone to waste to local emergency feeding services. Grubhub’s donation will be used to purchase left-over food from restaurants in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Providence.
  • World Central Kitchen has activated a network of restaurants and food service providers to safely produce individually packaged fresh meals that are delivered to those in need. Grubhub’s donation paid restaurants for these meals and handled delivery logistics in New York City.
  • The Food Bank of New York City provides emergency meals to vulnerable New Yorkers impacted by the economic downturn and COVID pandemic.
  • The Boys and Girls Club of America offers critical services for young people across the country and much-needed childcare services for essential workers. Grubhub’s donation is supporting the costs of re-opening key childcare centers in New York City.

We also took steps to feed frontline workers through partnerships with Verizon and Hellmann’s Food Relief Fund. Tens of thousands of meals, prepared by local restaurants, were given to healthcare workers in New York City hospitals free of charge. These programs helped both restaurant workers and hospital staff, and leveraged Grubhub’s delivery network to get food from restaurants to the hospitals.

Our work is not done. We’re committed to continuing to add features, products and resources that help our restaurants weather this crisis and support their communities. Restaurants have trusted us as a partner for more than 20 years – we look forward to serving them for the next 20.

Grubhub and Major Cities Across the U.S. Launch Economic Relief Effort up to $100 Million for Independent Restaurants and Delivery Partners Impacted by COVID-19

Mayors of Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Portland Team with Grubhub to Suspend Fees from Independent Restaurants
Grubhub Sets up Charitable Fund for Impacted Drivers and Restaurants

CHICAGO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — In collaboration with the mayors of large cities across the United States who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 response efforts, Grubhub today announced it is temporarily suspending collection of up to $100 million in commission payments from impacted independent restaurants nationwide.

Grubhub’s initiative will provide immediate and substantial cash flowrelief to qualified independent restaurants — restaurants that make up the majority of Grubhub’s 350,000+ restaurant community and drive more than 80 percent of the company’s orders.

Matt Maloney, Grubhub Founder and CEO said: “Independent restaurants are the lifeblood of our cities and feed our communities. They have been amazing long-term partners for us, and we wanted to help them in their time of need. Our business is their business — so this was an easy decision for us to make.”

Grubhub has also created a fund that will enable proceeds from its Donate the Change program to go toward charitable organizations that support restaurants and drivers impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. The program will allow diners to round up the change from every order and donate it to the Grubhub Community Relief Fund — with donations from Grubhub+ (and Seamless+) members matched by the company. Grubhub has been raising more than $1 million dollars per month through Donate the Change.

Grubhub will work with local city officials to identify the organizations that can utilize the funds and to consider other support programs during the pandemic.

“The City of Chicago is deeply concerned about the risk COVID-19 is placing on the health of our residents and communities, as well as the impact it’s having on our working families and neighborhood economies and restaurants,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “That is why we applaud corporate leaders like Grubhub who are stepping up with practical measures to support small businesses and their employees. Now more than ever, we must work together to ensure hardworking Chicagoans receive the support they need to thrive while also staying safe, secure, and healthy.”

In Chicago, where Grubhub was founded in 2004 and is headquartered today, there are more than 10,000 restaurants on the platform, and thousands of drivers bringing delicious food from these restaurants to hungry diners. This relief fund will provide support for food industry workers, which are anticipated to become among some of the most impacted by the economic losses due to coronavirus and social distancing practices. This includes residents at small, neighborhood-based businesses like Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles, based in Bronzeville.

As dine-in traffic is expected to slow up to 75 percent over the next few weeks, restaurants will rely on pickup and delivery orders to stay in business. “We have seen revenue decrease in the past week as a direct result of our customers staying home,” said Darnell Johnson, owner of Chicago’s Home of Chicken & Waffles. “Grubhub has helped us generate more delivery and takeout orders as our customers’ dining habits have changed. This has helped us continue serving our loyal customers and our employees can continue living a sustainable lifestyle.”

“Banding together during hard times, putting people over profit, and supporting our local businesses is a model we should all follow, and I thank Grubhub for leading the way,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Restaurants are a pillar of the San Francisco small business economy and so important to the culture of this city,” said Joaquin Torres, Director of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “We are committed to doing everything in our power to support them in this time of crisis, but if we want to come through this public health emergency intact, we’ll need more private sector partners to follow Grubhub’s lead, do the right thing and invest locally to mitigate this crisis.”

These initiatives follow a series of measures taken by Grubhub to keep restaurants, diners, and drivers safe during the outbreak – including contact-free delivery and health and safety guidance to drivers, restaurants and diners. Additionally, Grubhub offers pickup from the largest restaurant network in the country, which helps individuals who might feel safer acquiring food on their own.

About Grubhub
Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners, as well as more than 22 million active diners. Dedicated to connecting diners with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants, Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery experience. Grubhub features over 350,000 restaurants and is proud to partner with more than 165,000 of these restaurants in over 3,200 U.S. cities and London. The Grubhub portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus and MenuPages.

Grubhub Kicks Off Third Year Of RestaurantHER, Continuing Support For Women In The Restaurant Industry

Funded by the more than $1 million raised by diners during 2019 RestaurantHER, James Beard Foundation announces new platform for women in leadership

CHICAGO, March 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Grubhub, the nation’s leading pickup and delivery marketplace with the largest restaurant network, is continuing its commitment in supporting women-led restaurants during the third year of its RestaurantHER initiative.

Last year Grubhub diners donated more than $1 million to the James Beard Foundation’s women’s initiatives, and in 2020 the organization is putting those funds to work. With the assistance of Grubhub, the James Beard Foundation will be launching a new digital platform to provide women in the industry with accessible resources, substantially broadening its impact beyond the nearly 400 women the program now supports annually. The platform will provide educational guides on financing and best practices for business planning, as well as opportunities for members to network and connect with potential mentors through local community meet-ups and relevant industry events. Grubhub will also continue supporting local restaurant communities through RestaurantHER, encouraging diners to order from the growing, first-of-its-kind map of women-led restaurants, which now features nearly 50,000 restaurants.

“Thanks to partnerships with leaders like Grubhub, we’ve been able to make a positive impact in supporting women-led restaurants in the industry,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “We’ve seen women executive chefs grow in representation within the industry, and although we have a long way to go to achieve gender parity, we’re certainly heading in the right direction.”

“Having access to tangible resources like the James Beard Foundation’s programming is invaluable, and extending these to even more women with support from Grubhub is very exciting. The organization’s ‘Owning It’ workshop was incredibly impactful, giving us the opportunity to network and connect with other women in the industry and provided real tools to help define, shape, and better our business,” said Valerie Zweig, co-founder of Prescription Chicken. “From writing down the vision for our companies to hearing from and interacting with varied industry experts and even doing a live pitch to a panel of investors, we left with practical tools that we have already started implementing into our business.”

Since its inception in 2018, RestaurantHER has helped raise awareness about the long-standing issues impacting women in today’s restaurant industry. In a partnership with Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR), Grubhub supported the development of “Sharpen Your Skills,” a toolkit for aspiring female chefs and culinary leaders to help women navigate and address the challenges they face in the restaurant industry. Additionally, Grubhub contributed to WCR’s scholarship and mentorship programs, assisting and connecting over a dozen women in the culinary industry through formal apprenticeships.

“We’re proud to continue our efforts to drive change in the restaurant industry. Gender equality is important to us, and it’s important to our diners, too,” said Jessica Burns, Vice President of Brand Marketing and Creative at Grubhub. “While there’s still progress to be made, women now make up 22% of all chefs and head cooks, a rise from just over 19% in 2017. At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to raise awareness and give a voice to women in today’s industry, and with partners like the James Beard Foundation we’re able to do just that.”

For more information on Grubhub’s RestaurantHER initiative or to check out the map of women-led restaurants, visit RestaurantHER.com. To find out more about the James Beard Foundation’s women’s initiatives, visit JamesBeard.org.

About Grubhub
Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) is a leading online and mobile food-ordering and delivery marketplace with the largest and most comprehensive network of restaurant partners, as well as more than 22 million active diners. Dedicated to connecting diners with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants, Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery experience. Grubhub features over 300,000 restaurants and is proud to partner with more than 155,000 of these restaurants in over 3,200 U.S. cities and London. The Grubhub portfolio of brands includes Grubhub, Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus and MenuPages.