All Access

Retail Deals

Standard

Retail Deals Alerts

Alert

Retail Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Retail Deals

BFD Expert Voices

Food delivery startup Wonder is partnering with fresh meals producer FreshRealm to support its retail expansion plans, the companies tell Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: Improving unit economics has been an important criteria for restaurants and investors.

The big picture: While similar cloud kitchen concepts have fallen on harder times, Wonder CEO Marc Lore says its offering differs in that consumers can get high-quality, differentiated foods quickly and more cheaply than other restaurants thanks to its in-house couriers and optimized kitchens.

The latest: Wonder will transfer over four of its production facilities in New Jersey to FreshRealm, enabling FreshRealm to take over Wonder's ingredient prep and production.

What's next: Known for giving customers access to as many as 30 restaurants in a single order, Wonder aims to open 25 new restaurant locations this year and another 90 locations by the end of next year.

Most of the units will be located in the tri-state area.

What they're saying: The partnership with FreshRealm "allows us to focus on what we do best, which is culinary engineering and food science," Lore says.

There's a formulation around how to cook a Bobby Flay steak in six minutes without needing to flip it or a pizza in 88 seconds or a pasta in four minutes without any water, he says.

FreshRealm will remove production risks while doing "the massive lift that is required to scale us to billions of dollars over the next few years," Lore says.

Zoom in: FreshRealm aims to lower costs for meal-kit providers, food-delivery services and grocery retailers by doing back-of-house work, like supply chain management, manufacturing and fulfillment.

The company has the national infrastructure and the personnel that enables it to flex up if a company like Wonder wants to grow faster, FreshRealm CEO Michael Lippold says.

Catch up quick: FreshRealm acquired the operating assets of meal kit provider Marley Spoon earlier this year, and the operational infrastructure of Blue Apron in June 2023 for $50 million. (Wonder subsequently acquired the rest of Blue Apron.)

Flashback: Wonder raised $700 million from investors in March, bringing its total funding to $1.5 billion.

The capital is fueling its brick-and-mortar expansion as well as R&D.

Wonder will also use the funds to acquire the rights to new brands to bring onto its several-restaurants-in-a-single-kitchen platform, Lore says.

The bottom line: Wonder wants to be a "super app" for mealtime, leveraging generative AI to help design meal plans and adjust to dietary needs and desires, Lore says. 

Exclusive: Wonder to partner with FreshRealm to fuel its retail expansion

FreshRealm will take over Wonder's production facilities in N.J.

Animated illustration of chef hats popping up onto a conveyor belt, which carries them away.

Restaurants

Food delivery startup Wonder is partnering with fresh meals producer FreshRealm to support its retail expansion plans, the companies tell Axios exclusively.Why it matters: Improving unit economics has been an important criteria for restaurants and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="investors" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/retail-deals/2024/06/03/restaurants-private-equity-mergers-acquisitions" data-vars-content-id="f1f9f39d-3350-47b5-a9bf-14d4fdb3b17d" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Wonder to partner with FreshRealm to fuel its retail expansion" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/retail-deals/2024/06/03/restaurants-private-equity-mergers-acquisitions" target="_self">investors</a>.

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

jobs

transportation

business

stock-market-news

retail-news

crypto

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

boulder

detroit

kansas-city

columbus

austin

dallas

atlanta

washington-dc

nw-arkansas

chicago

indianapolis

nashville

richmond

colorado-springs

houston

san-francisco

seattle

boston

des-moines

salt-lake-city

philadelphia

denver

phoenix

new-orleans

miami

twin-cities

raleigh

san-antonio

portland

san-diego

tampa-bay

cleveland

huntsville

pittsburgh

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Exclusive: Wonder to partner with FreshRealm to fuel its retail expansion

What to read next