GrubHub buys out, expands Campusfood
Students ordering food online through Campusfood will notice a significant change to the website, as the business was recently bought by GrubHub. The new Campusfood homepage now has a large red box that outlines the change and encourages customers to move their account to GrubHub.
GrubHub, a company based out of Chicago, raised enough money in September 2011 to buy out Dotmenu, the company that previously owned Allmenus and Campusfood, two websites that function as online food ordering services.
Founded by Matt Maloney and Mike Evans, the company officially started asking customers to transfer to GrubHub on Campusfood’s website March 8, GrubHub’s eighth birthday.
On the ‘About Us’ page on GrubHub’s website, Maloney and Evans tell the story of their business. They met while working at apartments.com. One night, in a bar, both asked: ‘Why, given the available technology on this earth, is there not a website that will tell us who delivers?’
Keeping to this premise, GrubHub was born. The company’s mission statement is ‘to be the best place in the universe for finding and ordering food.’
Abby Hunt, public relations manager at GrubHub, said Maloney and Evans are hilarious individuals, and their humor is reflected in how the company advertises and presents itself.
She described GrubHub as a ‘bigger and better Campusfood.’
Kali Kearns, a freshman public health major, said she uses Campusfood about once every two weeks and was a bit apprehensive about the change.
‘Campusfood was a great website. It was easy to use and self-explanatory. The change might be a bad thing because everyone’s used to Campusfood,’ she said.
Hunt said GrubHub offers basically the same services as Campusfood but extends to more than what’s available on campus. They are located in 50 cities and more than 400 college campuses, she said.
‘GrubHub helps students whether they’re on campus, at home or even after you graduate,’ she said.
They have also removed the 75 cent service fee and offer a free app for mobile devices with the same restaurants and services as its website.
Bob O’brien, a sophomore information management and technology major, said he uses Campusfood about once a week and just recently used GrubHub for the first time.
‘I thought Campusfood was easier because they have all my information already,’ he said.
He said, however, his information was transferred from his Campusfood account to GrubHub after using it for the first time. There is a link on Campusfood’s website to transfer all costumers’ accounts to the new website.
But, he said, the change doesn’t bother him that much.
‘It doesn’t matter where you’re ordering it from,’ he said, ‘as long as the food is there on time.’
Published on March 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Contact Sarah: seschust@syr.edu
