Midnight Feast wants to become the go-to option for late-night food delivery.
The Vancouver company’s founders, Connor McDonald and Russel Fryer, deliver fast food on their bicycles every Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. – a time slot that no other meal delivery service currently provides, says McDonald.
McDonald and Fryer started Midnight Feast in May. They service the city’s downtown core west of Main Street. The company’s food selection is based on what’s available and popular late at night in downtown, including menu items from A&W, Subway, McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Denny’s, Pita Pit and Korean restaurant Jang Mo Jib.
“Vancouver’s always talked about as such an early city – the city that sleeps – so we thought ‘Hey, there is a demand for this,’” said McDonald. “People don’t like that reputation – they wish it was open a little bit later.”
In “Meal delivery companies offer new buffet of options” (issue 1442; June 20-26), Business in Vancouver reported on the rapidly growing number of meal delivery options in the city, with big companies like SkipTheDishes, DoorDash, Daily Delivery and Foodora, which has expanded delivery from 200 Vancouver restaurants.
Newcomers like Eat Your Cake, Fitness Foods and Chomp are also servicing sub-niches delivering pre-made meals for vegans, vegetarians and diners on raw diets. The fastest-growing company looks to be Chefs Plate, which delivers measured packages of ingredients that let customers cook their own meals at home. Chefs Plate co-founder Jamie Shea expects the company to generate $50 million in sales this year.
The value proposition for Midnight Feast, which uses fast food available in the downtown area, is its late-night delivery.
“We kind of have to keep our sights on our niche and what we can do, and know that we’re not going to win an all-out battle with these guys,” said McDonald. “We know that our market is the late-night. Our focus is on giving people that service, but we don’t operate during the day because we know that there’s big companies with huge infrastructure, investments behind them and huge logistical teams that make it so they can do these deliveries for pennies.”
Midnight Feast charges a $7.95 base service fee, including a 20% surcharge on the total order. McDonald said that allows the company to generate a profit from small orders. The average delivery time is approximately 34 minutes.
