Uber has been in the headlines in Turkey for other reasons, but the company also runs more than ride-sharing. UberEATS wants to open a new chapter in food delivery by adding virtual restaurants beside the physical ones it already partners with.
The service, which lets people order from a wide restaurant list, is not live in Turkey yet. The goal is still broader taste coverage: if a customer cannot find a dish at listed spots, UberEATS can take “validated demand” to nearby kitchens and help them stand up virtual brands so those orders still get delivered.
The virtual restaurant idea is in testing with a handful of restaurants. It is not new. DoorDash and Grubhub have offered similar setups for a while. Earlier this year Grubhub put $1 million into nine virtual restaurant concepts run through a kitchen group called Green Summit Group.