Craving Olive Garden breadsticks? Call an Uber.
Darden Restaurants, owner of Olive Garden, said Thursday that it signed a deal with Uber Technologies to offer food delivery services for select restaurant locations later this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Food will be able to be ordered through the Olive Garden app. Uber drivers will then deliver the order.
Darden Chief Executive Officer Rick Cardenas said that customers still want and are willing to pay for delivery, and Uber agreed to make a custom integration to smooth operations, the Wall Street Journal said. If it’s successful, Darden plans to expand the service to hundreds of Olive Garden restaurants next year.
The delivery deal was made amid an intent to reverse declining sales — as consumers have been spending less at restaurants, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Same-store traffic for casual-dining restaurants was down 4.5% this year through Sept. 8 compared with the same period the year before, outpacing the restaurant industry’s average drop of 3.3%, according to market-research firm Black Box Intelligence.
Olive Garden has previously declined deals with delivery companies because it said such deals “erode profit and sully the guest experience.” But Darden’s shares gained about 7.5% in morning trading, the Wall Street Journal said.
Prices for Olive Garden delivery will be similar to in-store prices in addition to a delivery fee that will average around $7 per typical order.
