INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
City Pantry, the office catering marketplace that lets you order in food for staff, company events and meetings, has been acquired by
payout due if City Pantry achieves agreed operational and financial targets over the next three years.The premise of the acquisition is to
enable consumer-focused Just Eat to further expand into the U.K
City Pantry claims more than 1,000 monthly corporate customers.Founded by Stuart Sunderland in 2013, City Pantry set out to improve the
catering options available to companies in London
Its marketplace connects local caterers to businesses that need quality food delivered to their offices or to cover events, meetings and
regular team meals.When the startup first launched, Sunderland viewed its main competitors as traditional corporate caterers, sandwich
retailers, pizza delivery places and, to a lesser extent, the newer breed of restaurant delivery companies such as Just Eat, Deliveroo and
However, as mindshare of these services has grown, it is likely that consumer and corporate catering has increasingly encroached on one
foothold in the corporate market
Given that publicly listed Just Eat is coming under increasing pressure from Deliveroo and UberEATs, it is also smart to demonstrate
continuing momentum to the public markets
Small incremental acquisitions like this are a tried and tested way of doing so.City Pantry is thought to have last raised funding in early
tax-payer money) and various angels
City Pantry was also a graduate of retail startup accelerator TrueStart.In a statement issued to TechCrunch, Tim Mills, investment director
of the Angel CoFund, comments:This deal is credit to founder Stuart Sunderland and his team for recognising a need for quality of choice in
the corporate catering market and building a marketplace that has been adopted by restaurants and corporates alike
The team has successfully grown the business in the U.K
and demonstrated the commercial opportunity in the B2B market, which is what has made it such an attractive investment for Just Eat
The acquisition is a great opportunity for the company to continue to scale beyond the U.K., with Just Eat opening up new markets for the
City Pantry has achieved a lot in the past four years and delivered a good return for investors, I look forward to seeing the team reach new
heights with Just Eat.Adds Peter Duffy, interim CEO of Just Eat, in a statement:Working with City Pantry to accelerate its mission to
improve and modernise the workplace dining experience is a great opportunity for Just Eat
expertise and an entrepreneurial spirit that matches our own
We look forward to bringing the company into the Just Eat family and working with them to grow in the UK and internationally in this
exciting and dynamic market.
