Gloria Dawson | Vox

How One App Aims to Disrupt the Desk Lunch

2019-03-06T05:15:48-05:00

Where did you eat lunch today? Chances are, you were at your desk. But Stas Matviyenko, founder of the app Allset, wants to change that: “Our mission is to bring people from offices to restaurants, to get all the benefits of a restaurant experience and have a proper lunch break,” he says. The app coordinates with restaurants and combines reservations, ordering, and payment into one interface, and ensures lunch arrives moments after diners arrive. “We called it Allset because every time you finish in the restaurant and everything is okay,” Matviyenko says, “everyone says ‘all set.’”

Allset combines a lot of the features available in other apps. Reservations can be made on Resy and orders placed on various delivery apps; payments can be made with apps like Cover, which was bought by Velocity, a similar app from the UK. OpenTable has recently began to include payments along with reservations. Ordering on most delivery apps now includes some element of timing, such as a text notifying diners when their food is en route.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Why Coffee Delivery Is the Future of On-Demand Ordering

2019-03-06T05:18:52-05:00

Imagine a piping hot coffee delivered to your office or home at the proverbial “click of a button.” For consumers, it’s perfect. For the coffee companies attempting to provide these services, it’s a bit more complicated. But two of the major chains, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, are ready to give it a try.

2015 was a big year for Starbucks, which added several services designed to be quick and convenient. In September, the company rolled out nationwide availability of Mobile Order & Pay through its apps, which allows customers to order ahead on the app and pick up in-store without waiting. In October, Starbucks announced a pilot project: It started bringing coffee and other items to employees of the Empire State Building through an in-house service, Starbucks Green Apron Delivery, which promised items “delivered by Starbucks baristas right to your office.” And in December, Starbucks officially debuted its previously announced partnership with start-up Postmates, allowing customers in Seattle to order delivery using the Starbucks app.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Meet the Lawyer Challenging the Food-Delivery Industry

2019-03-06T05:39:39-05:00

Uber’s employment practices have been making headlines lately, and the pending lawsuit against the company in the state of California could have wide-ranging implications for the entire on-demand economy. The crux of the case is the classification of Uber drivers. Many drivers claim they are employees, not contract workers, but the company disagrees. The classification is important: When companies classify workers as contract workers, employers don’t have to pay minimum wage or contribute to Social Security payments, unemployment or workers’ compensation. And contract workers shouldn’t legally be trained or told how to perform their job.

Boston-based attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is representing Uber drivers in California, but it’s not just the ride-share app she has her sights on — it’s the entire on-demand economy, which Liss-Riordan believes encourages a systematic misclassification and mistreatment of its workers.

The latest companies that have attracted Liss-Riordan’s attention, and her litigations, are food delivery start-ups.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.