C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), the fastest growing global food tech platform founded by Sam Nazarian, today announces a partnership with Coco, a revolutionary robot delivery service that brings food to consumers faster and more sustainably. Coco's now deliver C3 virtual restaurant brands to addresses within two miles of the company's digital kitchens on Broadway and Main Street in Santa Monica, The Grove in West Hollywood, and in Los Feliz. Based on the partnership's preliminary success, expansion is planned for additional Los Angeles neighborhoods and several major U.S. cities.
C3 and Coco are revolutionizing the restaurant industry with the following advancements:
- Streamlined Kitchen Operations – Coco streamlines kitchen operations by removing courier-related headaches for the merchant and eliminating wait times - the food is loaded into the Coco the minute it's ready. This paired with the immediate availability of Coco robots at the merchant, lowers pickup time by an average of 10 minutes, or 30%.
- Reduced Costs – C3 and Coco provide a more affordable delivery option for both consumers and restaurants. C3's proprietary new GO by Citizens app eliminates hidden delivery fees for customers. Coco robots reduce the high commissions charged to restaurants by traditional delivery services by up to 50 percent.
- Faster delivery times – Coco delivers 30% faster than driver-based services.
- Consistency: Coco robots are largely unaffected by traffic patterns throughout the day, which allows them to arrive on-time with 97% accuracy.
- Better Quality Food – Food delivered by C3 and Coco arrives fresher. C3's custom-made takeaway packaging is designed to preserve the quality of food, such as keeping French fries crisp and burgers warm. With no courier handling, Coco robots keep food safe and protected against contamination.
- Improved Sustainability – Coco robots are fully electric and contribute no carbon emissions to the atmosphere. C3 menu items are packaged in custom carbon-neutral takeaway boxes made from recycled materials. Orders delivered by Coco and C3 reduce the number of car-based deliveries on the road, ultimately mitigating a source of pollution and traffic. Coco robots Los Angeles launch alone results in a reduction of CO2 by 100K+ lbs per week.
- Customer Experience: The above benefits combined with a charming and cute robot encounter create a high quality experience for C3 customers!
"C3 is taking a digital-first approach to expand into new markets faster than any of our delivery-focused competitors. As an industry leader with a rapidly growing food empire, we are responsible for making sure our growth is sustainable for the environment and the consumer," said Sam Nazarian, Founder and CEO of C3. "We are proud to support a fellow disrupter that has created a tech-advanced delivery solution and we hope other restauranteurs follow our lead."
In less than two years, C3 opened 250 digital brand kitchens across the US, launched 40 brands, sold 1.3 million meals, employed over 1,200 people, and unveiled GO by Citizens – the industry's first alternative to third-party delivery platforms. The average order on the app is 78 percent higher than any other client on C3 partner Lunchbox's hosting platform, showcasing the strength of the proprietary technology. The company's expansion pipeline includes well over 1,000 locations in new and existing markets.
"We're thankful C3 is as invested in sustainable delivery solutions as we are. We believe there is no reason to have a three-thousand-pound car deliver burgers over short distances," said Zach Rash, co-founder and CEO of Coco. "With the support of C3 and their continual expansion, we have an enormous opportunity to create a better experience for hundreds of thousands of merchants and their customers."
Looking to expand its tech-driven, exciting culinary solutions to international markets, C3 just partnered with Kitopi, the world's leading managed cloud kitchen platform, to bring C³'s digital culinary platform and restaurant brands to the United Arab Emirates. Other massive international partnerships underway include the establishment of C3 outposts in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Additional plans for expansion are centered on C3-operated Citizens food halls: Openings include a 40,000 square-foot space at Brookfield's Manhattan West in New York City next month, the takeover and relaunch of a culinary center at Brightline's Miami Central this fall, a new 24,000 square-foot Citizens location in Atlanta to open in 2022, and subsequent locations in Seattle and California. Lucrative partnerships with Graduate Hotels, Kenect and TriArtisan will further propel the company's growth and provide more opportunities for leveraging unique delivery options.
