C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), a leading global food tech platform founded by Sam Nazarian, announced that C3 brands will now be available to restaurant partners of Chowly, a leading point-of-sale (POS) integration company. Chowly seamlessly integrates orders from all third-party marketplaces such as Grubhub, Ubereats, Postmates, and Doordash, as well as C3’s own app, CITIZENS GO, into one point of sale through its’ superior menu management technology, POS Sync. A critical piece of C3’s tech infrastructure and growth, this gives restaurants access to C3’s roster of 40 world-class digital brands while providing them with one place to manage delivery orders, consolidate reporting and update menus across every third-party delivery service.
This landmark deal positions C3 as Chowly’s exclusive virtual restaurant referral and promotion partner, expanding C3’s reach to Chowly’s portfolio of more than 10,000 kitchens across the country. In doing so, the partnership will put C3’s high-demand digital culinary brands into the hands of diners nationwide, including favorites Umami Burger and Krispy Rice as well as new brands Sa’Moto, El Pollo Verde, Cicci di Carne and more.
By coupling the digital marketing strength of C3’s operations and virtual restaurant brands with Chowly’s delivery aggregator and single fulfillment platform, restaurants get better utility out of existing kitchen space to supplement revenue without needing to make any significant capital investments. As part of a later phase in the strategic partnership, Chowly and C3 will develop and launch new culinary brands exclusively within Chowly’s restaurant network, creating yet another revenue stream for the companies. The result expands offerings that can be executed out of a restaurant’s existing kitchen to appeal to a wider number of customers, maximizing profits and increasing demand.
Commenting on the partnership, Sam Nazarian, CEO and Founder of C3 said, “This partnership with Chowly will be a true gamechanger in an industry that has been deeply impacted by the last 18 months, giving restaurateurs the opportunity to generate revenue and build a more efficient eco-system of cooking and delivery distribution. As these determined restaurant owners build back up, we’re providing them with a collection of the highest quality brands that they can integrate into their own kitchens to supplement their own entrepreneurial vision.”
Nazarian continues, “C3 brands are already available in 250 kitchens. We plan to be in 1,000 in the US by end of year and we’ll be in 12,000 by 2023. The deal with Chowly adds an additional 10,000 kitchens to the fold. Chowly’s platform is 2.5 times the size of their closest competitor and this partnership is a critical piece of our growth plan, and our largest-scale expansion to date. By teaming up with Chowly we can significantly increase consumer access to our culinary brands while Chowly restaurants gain the benefit of new menu items that provide a solution to underutilized kitchen space.”
Adding to this sentiment, Sterling Douglass, co-founder and CEO of Chowly says, “We work with so many virtual restaurants on our platform and we’ve seen every attempt at it over the years. C3 has shown unique upside and we’re excited to share this with our large network of restaurants.”
Douglass continues, “The more we can empower our restaurants to manage, measure, and grow their off-premise business, the quicker our industry will recover from the pandemic. With C3, our restaurant clients can automatically opt into 40 existing C3 brands with proven track records. This allows our clients with 1,000 locations or a single mom-and-pop to take advantage of the tools needed to succeed in the post-covid world.”
Financial Benefits of the Partnership
Revenue share, maximized kitchen revenue potential and increased order demand.
Cost-savings through the purchasing power of C3 supply chain, decreasing cost of goods by up to 14%.
Expanded offerings that can be executed out of a restaurant’s existing kitchen to appeal to a wider demographic of customers.
Pre-developed fast casual menu items created with world-class culinary talent including Masaharu Morimoto, Dani Garcia and Dario Cecchini.
Kitchens become all-day facilities to generate business during periods that would typically be off-peak or closed for dine-in. For example, a diner that is typically only open for breakfast and lunch can now produce C3 brands for delivery during dinner hours without needing to staff-up for dine-in support.
Onboarding to C3’s proprietary CITIZENS GO app where checks have been 78% higher than any other client on the Lunchbox app platform because users can order menu items from multiple brands together into a single cart.
C3 culinary brands will begin launching with select large-scale enterprise partners in high-demand markets on the Chowly platform over the next three months. Chowly will then begin to expand C3 brands to smaller partners and outer markets, eventually becoming available to all of the 10,000 US restaurants that use Chowly’s platform. In addition to producing C3 brand items for delivery or takeout, these restaurants will also receive C3 marketing support and integration onto C3’s delivery and ordering app, CITIZENS GO.
The first C3 brands will be available to select Chowly restaurants this summer and will be available for pickup and delivery via the CITIZENS GO app.
News and information presented in this release has not been corroborated by WTWH Media LLC.
