Grubhub Grows Into Grocery With Buyk

Grubhub is getting some pedal power—and an entry into "instant" grocery delivery—via Buyk.

The restaurant delivery specialist announced it has joined forces with ghost grocery operator Buyk, launching 15-minute delivery of grocery orders placed through Grubhub's marketplace and fulfilled by Buyk employees to need-it-now shoppers in New York and Chicago. 

In a news release, Grubhub and Buyk said that more than 2,000 grocery and convenience items from local and national brands, as well as Buyk's private-label products, will be available for purchase through Grubhub in the two cities in the coming weeks. 

See also: Food Rocket Launches Service in Chicago

"We're thrilled to partner with Grubhub to bring real-time retail to an even broader base of consumers," Buyk CEO and restaurant industry veteran James Walker said in a statement. Walker, who joined Buyk in November after overseeing Nathan's Famous' successful foray into ghost kitchens, said Buyk and Grubhub "will also cooperate in the areas of hyperlocalized assortment and product management, food waste optimization [and] smart routing and safety protocols to build the best experience for our couriers and our customers."

Grubhub was acquired in June by Dutch multinational Just Eat Takeaway (JET). In October, an activist investor unhappy with JET's stock performance since the close of the deal floated the idea of a sale of Grubhub to the likes of Walmart or Amazon. In a letter to JET's management board, Cat Rock Capital managing partner Alexander Captain said such a move would be "the only credible path for U.S. online grocery businesses such as Amazon, Walmart and Instacart to match the converged online food and online grocery offerings of DoorDash and Uber Eats."

San Francisco-based DoorDash, which ranks No. 1 in restaurant delivery sales in the U.S., debuted 30-minute grocery delivery service in partnership with Albertsons earlier this month after moving into on-demand grocery delivery in 2020. 

Buyk currently operates its grocery microwarehouses only in New York (where it launched service in September) and Chicago; Grubhub said it features more than 300,000 restaurant partners in more than 4,000 U.S. cities.