Minnow Technologies, a Seattle-based IoT startup that has developed a contactless food delivery and pickup solution called the Minnow Pickup Pod, announced today that it has entered into a development, licensing, manufacturing, and distribution agreement with Hatco Corporation, a leading manufacturer of foodservice equipment. Under the agreement, Hatco will be Minnow’s exclusive manufacturing partner. Hatco will also incorporate Minnow’s technology into its line of self-service pickup solutions, which are sold under the Flav-R 2-Go brand to restaurants, ghost kitchens, and other foodservice operators.
“This move unites Hatco’s world-class manufacturing capabilities, vast distribution channel, and decades of experience in the food service equipment industry with Minnow’s award-winning hardware design and cloud-based IoT software,” says Steven Sperry, Minnow’s CEO. “As the foodservice industry increasingly embraces contactless technologies to improve guest convenience, reduce labor costs, and improve safety, the demand for self-service pickup solutions will only grow.”
Under the agreement, Hatco will be the exclusive manufacturer of the Minnow Pickup Pod, which Minnow will sell to office buildings, multifamily residential properties, hospitals, college campuses, and other locations where food is delivered.
Minnow Pickup Pods are already installed in office buildings, multifamily properties, and college campuses throughout the United States and in Japan. The pods are being used by every leading food delivery service, as well as by restaurants and ghost kitchens that make their own deliveries. According to Minnow’s surveys, 80% of delivery workers say they are very satisfied with their experience delivering to a pod, while 97% of consumers would rather pick up from a pod than receive their food directly from a delivery worker.
“Over the last year there’s been an 80% increase in food deliveries to multi-family residential buildings,” says Sperry. “Property managers are struggling to manage the growing volume of food coming into their buildings, just as they struggled with the surge of package deliveries. And just as package lockers have become a standard amenity in most buildings, so will food delivery solutions like the Minnow Pickup Pod. This agreement with Hatco ensures that Minnow will have the production capacity to keep up with demand.”
Hatco will also incorporate Minnow’s technology into its line of self-service pickup solutions, which are sold under the Flav-R 2-Go brand to restaurants, ghost kitchens, cafeterias, and other foodservice operators.
“Off-premises dining will continue to grow, even in the post-Covid era,” says David Rolston, Hatco’s President & CEO, “and Hatco is ideally positioned to provide a wide range of self-service food pickup solutions to restaurants and other foodservice operators. By partnering with Minnow, Hatco can now offer its customers an easy-to-install, lower-cost solution that is powered by modern cloud technology and that can be easily integrated with their POS and online ordering systems.”
The first batch of production units has already sold out, but more will be available soon. Minnow is currently accepting pre-orders from office and residential building customers. For additional information on the Minnow Pickup Pod, contact your Hatco sales representative or visit the Hatco corporation website.
