If you judge a city by the kinds of services available, then Grubhub’s arrival in Vancouver this week could be a sign the city is growing up.
The company, which works with more than 80,000 restaurant partners in more than 1,600 cities across the U.S., launched service on Wednesday in Vancouver and several smaller cities and regions of Clark County. The service has been available in Portland since 2010, but this is the first time the company has expanded across to the Vancouver side of the river.
“Grubhub now serves not only Vancouver proper, but nearby neighborhoods and towns including Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Barberton, Five Corners, Walnut Grove, Minnehaha, Orchards, Ellsworth, Cascade Park, Evergreen, and parts of Proebstel and Lake Shore,” said Katie Norris, communications manager at Grubhub.
So far, the company has aligned with more than 50 restaurants in Vancouver and surrounding areas. Local offerings include Papa Murphy’s, Las Islas Marias, Ginger Pop, LUXE Restaurant, Heathen Brewing Feral Public House, The Rock Wood Fired Pizza, Mack Shack, Smokehouse Provisions, Four Caminos and Shen Chang.
The expansion is part of Grubhub’s overall growth strategy for 2018. The goal is to expand to more than 100 new delivery markets in the U.S. this year, Norris said.
“With an untapped market of more than $200 billion for takeout and delivery in the U.S. alone, there remains a huge opportunity for domestic growth,” Norris said.
The strategy appears to be working. In the first quarter of 2018, the company posted revenues of $232.6 million, a 49 percent year-over-year increase from $156.1 million in the first quarter of 2017. Gross Food Sales for the company also grew 39 percent year-over-year to $1.2 billion, up from $898 million in the first quarter of 2017.
“Our team executed well in the first quarter, making meaningful progress toward our most significant goals for 2018,” Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney said in a news release. “We’ve already launched dozens of new delivery markets.”
The company was founded in Chicago in 2004 by two web developers looking for an alternative to paper menus. Since then, it has grown into an international company providing service to customers in the United States and United Kingdom. In 2014, Grubhub went public. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GRUB.
In late 2015, Grubhub acquired Portland-based Delivered Dish, a restaurant delivery service in seven markets across the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. That expanded the company’s offerings in Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego, Portland, El Paso and Albuquerque at the time, but not to Vancouver until now.
“Offering our delivery capabilities in Vancouver is an important part of Grubhub’s effort to connect more diners with even more of their favorite local restaurants across the country,” Norris said. “We’re also excited to deepen our partnerships with Vancouver restaurants.”
The company is also looking for local Vancouver drivers. Those interested can apply online at https://driver.grubhub.com/.
Grubhub is also offering a free delivery special to Vancouver area customers through the end of the month. To use it, enter the code GHDFREE at the Grubhub.com website.
