The MealPal scheme is no free lunch

The rise of restaurant discount apps like Seated and MealPal has given way to an unprecedented level of convenience and value for diners. However, the price of the food they are being sold is so good that it may cease to last if the platforms succeed at capturing further share of stomach. Amidst rising rents and minimum wage, restaurateurs have been foisted into the 21st century era of convenience, duped into participating in zero-margin yielding marketplaces marketed to them as incremental cash flow opportunities.

“MealPal is pay to play. If you sit on the sidelines, you’re not in the market,” said Erik Oberholtzer, founder of Tender Greens, a 30-unit fast casual brand. “I work with a lot of brands in the space. In LA and NYC, it’s obligatory to get on these. You have to be on MealPal, Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash.”

MealPal pickups located next to POS checkout also serve as a marketing channel for existing brick and mortar customers, aimed to cannibalize sales

While many restaurateurs have publicly griped about high-commission delivery apps eroding their already thin margins, few have spoken about MealPal, a subscription marketplace where urban office workers can pay $6.99 (or sometimes less, depending on their growth marketing initiatives) for a meal that would normally cost them roughly double at retail in NYC. The company’s story is not unlike many other marketplaces who aggregate supply and lure consumers by losing money in the short term with hopes of generating high lifetime value through…