Wonder, the company describing itself as a “new kind of food hall” continues to expand on March 12th. Announced acquisition of Tastemade, an independent media company that owns and operates four lifestyle streaming channels and creates video content. It also boasts a subscription community of over 100,000 paid subscribers. As of December 2024.
Move Bolsters bolsters Wonder’s goal of building what is known as the “Mealtime Super App.” According to a press release, the acquisition will “provide “access to Tastemade’s robust digital audience” and “enhance the retail media business and strengthen the content marketing engine.” Essentially, it will promote wonder in the eyes even more.
This is just the latest acquisition in Wonder’s Meteor Rising. November 2024, Wonder I’ve got it Established food ordering and delivery platform Grubhub. The acquisition allowed the company to provide Grubhub restaurant partners in the app along with existing products, making them available through Grubhub. The integration It led to a layoff 23% of Grubhub’s corporate workforce in February 2025.
With the acquisition of Grubhub, the company also announced a new $250 million investment “to drive mission and growth.” It was announced in March 2024. Over the years, filled with failed chains and struggling food delivery startups, grubhub among themwonder has emerged as a winner – and it has hardly started.
If the company has that method, it will be inevitable for the next few years, at least in the Northeast of the US. At the time of writing, 38 are open place And there are another 15 sets that will open over the next few months, most of which are in New York City and have a steady expansion into Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. That trajectory follows a plan called CEO and founder Marc Lore detail Early this year: It will expand from 11 locations in March 2024 to 35 by the end of the year, and will expand to 90 by the end of 2025. That surge is particularly shocking considering that it only began opening up physical locations in 2023.
Who is behind Wonder?
Mark Lua, an e-commerce entrepreneur who ran e-commerce at Walmart from 2016 to 2021, founded Wonder in 2018.. Before that, Lore was a co-founder of Jet.com, and Walmart acquired it for around $3 billion. 2016. Lore was also a co-founder of Quidsi and ran e-commerce sites such as Diapers.com and Wag.com until Amazon acquired it. 2010. Lore’s current level of involvement in wonders is relatively recent. At Walmart, he initially became CEO in December 2021 as executive chairman, running his brother Chad Lore before investing in companies such as Bain Capital Ventures, Amex Ventures and Nestlé.
How does Wonder work?
The mysterious promise is the ability to order “from multiple restaurants at once.” Instead of a food hall where every vendor has its own kitchen, each dish one menu, one physical wonder place offers multiple menus.restaurant“From one kitchen. Some of this food comes from existing brands like Brooklyn Pizza Restaurant Difara. Others exist in wonder, including the concept of chef partners like Michael Simon’s Yasas and Jonathan Waxman’s Walnut Lane. According to The Trade Publication Restaurant Businessthe company pays the company’s fees and stocks to chefs and restaurant partners. This allows you to use your brand and recipe without royalty. These chefs It works strangely Make dishes suitable for large-scale delivery. As of March 2024, Wonder offered “We offer 500 items that can be ordered to the given wonders across 28 different menus.” According to New York Times.
Thus, Wonder is part of the rise of virtual restaurants. However, unlike situations where there are many ghost kitchens, the fact that food comes from ghost kitchens and known restaurants operating under the new virtual brand is unknown to consumers, but they share kitchens that share their selling points.
How does Wonder differ from other distribution platforms?
Unless the customer is eating – this is a strange option, but not a priority, these meals are delivered by mysterious couriers. As a tradition He spoke to Business Insider last year,Wonder’s advantage over competitors is[w]E’ is vertically integrated. We do everything. It’s our app. It’s our delivery and our food. We own rights to those brands. (Of course, with the acquisition of Grubhub, Wonder is now available through Grubhub. The company has not specified whether or how to take over the delivery.)
As Kristen Hawley wrote for Eater in April, what makes me wonder is “controlling the entire experience from recipes to fulfillment, and has spent $60 million so far on intellectual property (recipe and restaurant concepts) from partner chefs.” Holy also points out Wonder’s “eye of a savvy curator,” explaining that, like in the early days of caviar, it offers “proximity” to a higher experience when it promotes access to fine dining than other food ordering platforms.
But wonder doesn’t always work this way. Its first model was to drive a Mercedes Sprinter van into a customer’s home. The food was partially cooked at the Wonder Kitchen facility and then ended in the settlement in a van. As Wall Street Journal Reported in 2022Wonderban became controversial in the neighborhood where the program was piloted. Some residents acquiesced that the van was noisy and blocking the roadway. In January 2023, Wonder closed its van program. Legend Talking to Business Insider The company will be able to get faster and better profit margins by moving to a fixed location.
How does Wonder make that food?
The basic setup of the van model has not been phased out completely. As The era I explained it earlier this year The lore profiles provide Wonder food, often pulcoded in the committee kitchen. (wonder I currently have it I have a central kitchen in New Jersey schedule To add a location to open another location in Pennsylvania. ) At that point, it is distributed to restaurants, and it finishes the “lightly trained labour” with groceries in a “lightly trained labour” using only a bath in hot water, a rapid cook oven, or stir-fry. The kitchen does not require a gas stove or exhaust system, so building a kitchen quickly and affordably is the best way to build it. The era Note.
Given the slow delivery, it’s one of the problems that wonders are trying to solve. It states Preparing meals and efficiency in delivering them to customers are now big goals and are moving forward. Now, Wonder is reportedly delivering food in about 30 minutes.
Is it okay to have a strange thing?
Wonder seems as good as the food hall. New York Restaurant critic Robert Sietema I reviewed the Chelsea locationFood in May, he discovered that the pizza was a solid difara pie, but without the signature basil finish. Other options, such as the Tejas Barbecue Brisket Sandwich and Yasas by Michael Simon Pepper and Feta Sandwich, have missed the mark. Most of what Sietsema tried was B. Grab Street critic Matthew Schneier won around The overall takeout was the same But a better experience with brisket sandwiches.
Where does Wonder go from here?
According to Wall Street JournalWhen you buy Grubhub, you will not only be surprised by the new revenue streams, but you will also have access to Grubhub’s delivery drivers and delivery technology. Around November 13th press releaseWonder believes the partnership supports its goal of “rebuilding the future of food delivery” and “makes great food more accessible.”
A timeline of big strange moments:
- 2020: wonder Start piloting Van programmes in parts of Westfield, New Jersey. By 2021, that It was expanding Serve the entire town.
- October 2022: Marc Lore will become CEO of Wonder.
- January 2023: wonder Pivot away From van distribution to support fixed locations.
- February 2023: wonder open First NYC location on the Upper West Side.
- November 2023: wonder Complete the acquisition Meal Kit Company Blue Apron allows Wonder App users to order Blue Apron kits in addition to Wonder Meals. Wonder takes over the delivery of the blue apron.
- February 2024: wonder Open the first location Inside the Walmart store.
- April 2024: wonder Get it Relay is a New York-based delivery company.
- March 2023: wonder Raise $700 million Funding that growth plan.
- October 2024: wonder Open the first location Inside Cumberland Farm’s convenience store. Tony Hoggett, who previously ran the grocery program on Amazon, is I’ll take part in wonder.
- November 2024: Wonder announces the acquisition of Grubhub.
- February 2025: Wonder announces corporate layoffs on Grubhub as Wonder and Grubhub Integrate.
- March 2025: Wonder announces the acquisition of Tastemade.
