Food delivery popularity meets advances in technology to help restaurants grow amidst pandemic
The coronavirus has spread across the world over the past few months hitting the already struggling restaurant industry particularly hard. With many restaurants being forced to move to takeout-only, temporarily closing, or even permanently closing, the future of the restaurant industry is uncertain – and it’s against this backdrop Virturant ramped up and forged ahead.
Virturant, the startup virtual delivery-only restaurant company out to save the restaurant industry, creates an entirely new revenue stream for eateries with extra capacity looking to earn more money. By making productive use of underused/unused kitchen staff and operational hours, restaurants can increase revenue and profitability without building a bigger footprint or reinventing their wheelhouse with this smart new turnkey, delivery-only system. And all by doing little more than using their existing resources to deliver food to a brand-new stream of customers who are discovering Virturant brands that are well positioned on the top delivery app platforms like UberEats, Grubhub, Postmates and DoorDash. Plus, it’s easy to manage orders on these platforms with innovative tablet integration software – as all four delivery apps aare managed by one tablet and one printer all supplied by Virturant.
The Model
By entering into a licensing agreement, restaurants can go from producing the items on their existing menu, to also offering entirely new items – restaurant brands based on ingredients they already have stocked in their kitchens. Virturant provides the restaurant with the tested and proven chef-created recipes, the ingredient lists, the packaging and the suppliers that offer the best quality for the price. They even handle all the marketing to drive sales.
Launched in January 2020 and already partnering with nearly two dozen restaurants, they have generated sales data showing an increase in productivity and overall sales, especially during times when restaurants aren’t traditionally busy. Data shows Virturant brands are producing between $1,000 to $6000 in sales per week per brand.
Profitability happens fast
The model works like this:
Example 1 shows the financial impact:
- 100 orders a week x $32 average order = $3200 in sales revenue ($166,400 Annualized)
- 60% Fulfillment Partner Payout is $1920 per week ($99,840 Annualized)
- Average Food Cost is 25% of sales revenue or $800 per week ($41,600 Annualized)
- Total Gross Profit of 35% or $1120 a week ($58,240 Annualized)
Here is the increase in EBITDA of the restaurant or commercial kitchen:
- Current business has Sales Revenue of $1,000,000
- Current EBITDA of the business is 18% or $180,000
- Adding example 1 the EBITDA increases to $238,240 or 32% increase
- ** Assuming current staff can perform the additional sales
“In addition to a new customer base, the magic in our model is that peak ordering demand for delivery is different from peak serving time for the typical sit-down, fast-casual restaurant,” said Jon Register, CEO, Virturant. “For example, a restaurant serving lunch and dinner typically sees its peak from 11am-1pm and 4pm-6pm, but its virtually-ordered deliveries ramp up from 1pm-3pm and 6pm-11pm which means the restaurant is generating revenue for more hours during its work day.”
Popular and focused food concepts
Virturant’s restaurant brands are easy to rollout, low-risk, and cost effective. The company has leveraged real-time data analytics to create eight different customer-centric restaurant concepts including Wing Society, The Patty Melt Company, Wild Skillet, Uptown Burgers, The French Toastery, Grilled Cheesin’, Uhmazing BLTs, and Sunrise Sandwiches Co. The menus are designed to offer the best-selling delivery items by region, market, and time of day. And, like what Starbucks did for coffee, all brands are focused and all items are ala carte. For example, Uhmazing BLTs is just Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches in every imaginable way plus a manageable offering of complimentary sides like potato tots, mac & cheese, shoestring fries and onion rings.
Restaurants can choose to offer one of eight brands or can add multiple. Some licensees offer all eight. And, all licensees receive a dedicated radius territory around their restaurant determined by using household demographics and third-party delivery apps, guaranteeing they receive every order that comes in from any address within it. And, revenue adds up fast. Across the brands, the average ticket restaurants are realizing is $32.
“One reason our sales volumes are high is because we drive a lot of traffic on the delivery apps. We have created eight hyper-focused brands; our concepts rise to the top of any search. For example, if someone is in DoorDash looking for French toast, The French Toastery is likely going to be the first thing to pop up,” said Jon Register, CEO, Virturant. “Currently our best-seller across all of our brands is Uhmazing BLT’s. Comfort food is huge right now and our customizable BLT’s are some of the best.”
Added benefits to licensees
Separating from the competition, Virturant has done the work necessary to provide top customer service to all of their partners, too. To maximize restaurant profitability, account representatives in each territory make sure licensees have everything they need including delicious brand menus that are easy to prepare, plus menu customizations that help move drinks, desserts and sides the restaurant already offers. Additionally, since it’s delivery-only, they have created all food to travel in sustainable weave-fiber, clam shell containers. This packaging ensures that everything stays hot, crisp and fits properly to keep food in place as it travels.
The ideal fit
Virturant is helping restaurants like Kup a Joe Café in Frankfort, IL add additional revenue in their stores, which improves their EBITDA dramatically – something that’s hard to do during these unprecedented times. Kup a Joe offers six Virturant brands in its breakfast and lunch café. However, because they’ve already paid for staff, commercial kitchen equipment and restaurant space, adding these “virtual restaurants within their restaurant” boosts their earning potential beyond the menu they currently sell, without cannibalizing it.
“Virturant has allowed my business to increase revenue and profit with my same staff and kitchen,” says Jim Garofalo Sr., Owner of Kup a Joe Café in Frankfort, IL. “The six brands we’re selling are bringing new orders I wouldn’t otherwise have. And the recipes are easy for my staff to make. It keeps us busy doing what we do best – making the food. While they’re doing the marketing, managing the delivery platforms and providing the technology so our orders print directly into our kitchen. It’s great!”
Virturant is expanding nationally, and currently serves licensees in Chicagoland, Las Vegas, and Milwaukee. To learn more visit www.virturant.com.
Virturant is a delivery-only virtual restaurant brands company boosting revenue in restaurants by monetizing their unused/underused staff, equipment and kitchen capacity. The brainchild of restaurant and technology industry veterans, it offers a smart new turn-key process that brings new customers – through widely used food delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats and Postmate – that flock to order its popular concepts including Wing Society, Patty Melt Company, Wild Skillet, Uptown Burgers, The French Toastery, Grilled Cheesin’, Uhmazing BLTs, and Sunrise Sandwiches Co. Virturant’s restaurant brands add thousands a month in extra sales to its restaurant licensees, increasing profitability beyond what they thought possible. For information: www.virturant.com.
