The dining companies on this list are doing more than survive the COVID-19 crisis. They’re setting themselves—and the entire industry—up for future success. Chicago-based reservation management platform Tock is helping independent restaurants offer order and delivery services, while Slice does something similar for local pizzerias. Sensor company OneDine has adapted its technology to help restaurants set up new drive-through services, and New York-based architecture firm Rockwell Group allows them to create outdoor spaces quickly and efficiently. World Central Kitchen and Street Vendor Project have an additional mission: tackling food insecurity. The organizations have helped restaurant workers and food vendors retain their jobs by serving meals to people in need.
1. Tock
For restoring the advantage to restaurants and small businesses battered by the coronavirus
When the fine-dining restaurants on the reservation platform Tock began shutting down their indoor dining venues, the company launched Tock to Go, an online ordering platform that helps restaurants offer pickup and delivery options. Tock to Go, which charges the delivery fee ($5 to $10) to diners instead of restaurants and takes only a 2% cut on orders, offers restaurants a compelling alternative to the onerous terms of other delivery platforms, which may charge 20% or more. As a result, Tock has more than doubled in size since March, adding more than 3,000 restaurants to the platform and expanding beyond its fine-dining base. In October, it partnered with the city of Chicago in October to offer Tock to Go for free to restaurants in low-income neighborhoods to help secure these small business that are so central to the city’s fabric during the pandemic. For more on why Tock is a 2021 Most Innovative Company, click here.
2. Panera Bread
For finding creative solutions for getting coffee, groceries, and meals to customers during the pandemic
Panera created a new revenue model when it launched a monthly coffee subscription service in April. Some 500,000 people signed up. The service also incentivized customers to order other items from Panera, which expanded its delivery options to include select grocery items, such as milk and avocados. The fast-casual chain launched curbside pickup and used geofencing to help branches deliver orders accurately and quickly. When the company furloughed employees at the beginning of the pandemic, it created a job platform to help them find temporary employment at CVS and other organizations facing staffing shortages.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
