It didn't take thousands of inquiries into Chef Shuttle's future to convince the start-up that it should expand its food delivery service into Northwest Arkansas. But those emails, calls and social media messages affirmed what the company's leadership saw as a natural growth opportunity.
Chef Shuttle, which debuted in its current form in Little Rock nearly a year-and-a-half ago, will be available for customers in Northwest Arkansas this month. Details are still being worked out, but delivery could begin as soon as mid-June with 10 restaurants, CEO Ryan Herget said.
Since its founding in Little Rock, the company has expanded into Memphis and Hot Springs. Customers -- usually the too-busy-to-take-a-break-for-lunch office crews or families crunched for time around dinner -- can get a minimum of $15 worth of food delivered for $4.95. Order $1,000 worth of food and the delivery fee is still $4.95.
Herget, 24, figures Northwest Arkansas will be an even better market for Chef Shuttle because it's not as spread out as Little Rock. Bentonville and Rogers are up first. Specifically ZIP codes 72712, 72718, 72756 and 72758.
Both towns are full of office parks devoted to Wal-Mart and its vendors. It makes sense that they'd be first in line for Chef Shuttle, which makes its money based on a commission structure with the restaurants.
"Everything we look for in a market is there," Herget said. "Northwest Arkansas is even more favorable than Memphis or central Arkansas. It's been on our to-do list for probably the last nine months. We waited longer than we probably would have liked. Make sure we can put necessary assets. We expect it to blow up pretty fast."
Chef Shuttle will operate out of Bentonville with four employees initially. That doesn't include the 20 or so delivery drivers who will be tasked with getting food to customers in under an hour.
If you're unfamiliar with how the service works, you log onto the Chef Shuttle website, enter a ZIP code/pick a city and choose menu options from participating restaurants. Initially there will be about 10 restaurants in Northwest Arkansas, but the plan is to grow that number to 100 within the next six months.
Ideally, the company would expand its options by about 20 per month, Herget said. That would put them at 120 by the end of the year and on pace to match the 400-500 daily orders filled by the Central Arkansas operation.
For comparison's sake, consider that Little Rock is up to 185 restaurants and about 100 drivers. Locally owned establishments, including independent restaurants and franchises of national chains, are participants in other markets. If a restaurant has decision makers that aren't located in a delivery area, the chances are slim that they'll be involved with Chef Shuttle.
Chef Shuttle requires participating restaurants to charge no more than what their dine-in prices are. Herget said similar services in other markets mark up prices 20-30 percent.
Jason and Stephen LaFrance, part of the family behind the successful USA Drug franchises that later sold to Walgreens, came on as Chef Shuttle investors in May 2014. While the brothers have invested in real estate throughout Arkansas and the region, Chef Shuttle is a rare start-up investment for them.
"It was an honor to be that company they took a chance on last year," Herget said. "It's really been a blessing having somebody to bounce ideas off of and work with. Nobody expected us to blow-up the way we've done so. I think we'd have encountered a lot more speed bumps along the way, but I've been fortunate to surround myself with investors and good partners as we've gone through the process of scaling."
SundayMonday Business on 06/07/2015