What the company does?
Food Rocket is a rapid grocery delivery startup backed by Circle K that provides fast grocery delivery within 10-15 minutes of the order’s placement. Its business model is based on AI-enabled technologies to manage warehouse stocks, forecast demand and optimize delivery time by predicting the closest store that offers the fastest delivery time and the lowest costs of putting together and delivering the order.
The Current Landscape
Rapid grocery delivery is a highly competitive market, where market giants and startups such as DoorDash, Amazon Fresh, GoPuff, InstaCart, Buyk compete for customers side by side. Rapid grocery delivery as a market is projected to touch $3.9B by 2025 and for the last few months the investors and media have been questioning rapid delivery startups’ business model and its profitability. At the same time, customers have become pickier, expecting their groceries to be delivered in just 15 minutes although even a year ago they prioritized safety to speed of delivery.
Company Birth Story
Food Rocket is a pivot of the previous project by Vitaly Alexandrov, a serial entrepreneur and expert in the food industry. He decided to change the direction of his successful startup Foody, the service that helped restaurants have all of their suppliers in one place and place orders through the mobile app, because of the pandemic. A year later after its launch, Food Rocket operates in San Francisco and Chicago, has hired 140+ team members and has an exceptional retention rate among customers (60%). Food Rocket is aiming to shift the consumers’ buying habits from advance, bulk buying to daily shopping.
The Solution
Food Rocket's lucrative business model is based on AI to forecast orders and manage dark stores. Such use of AI is something new for the on-demand delivery sector. AI is also used to optimize the cost of delivery depending on the road traffic, weather conditions, time of the day, and the dark store’s location.
Being the first delivery service to contract drivers, Food Rocket provides them with all the perks, including entry bonuses, flexible working hours, and 15+ training sessions along with onboarding and food safety certifications. In addition, Food Rocket pays 75% of insurance costs, including workers' compensation, medical, dental, and vision.
A founder quote
“We are focused on building a sustainable and profitable business based on three pillars: people, technology, and curiosity. Our diverse team with deep expertise in e-grocery drives innovative initiatives and projects, develops the ecosystem of Food Rocket, and implements the best practices and solutions. AI and data are the artery of our business. Aimed to enhance customer experience and consumption patterns, they reduce food waste and enable a sustainable business model. As part of a highly competitive market, we’re always eager to develop new business formats (dark kitchens, pickup points, etc), find new partners, and conquer new markets, providing people with fresh groceries.”
Check It Out: https://www.foodrocket.me/
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