Dive Brief:

• BurgerFi and rapid delivery company Gopuff are expanding delivery of BurgerFi burgers to over a dozen cities, including New York City, Philadelphia, Miami and Nashville, Tennessee, the companies announced Thursday in a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive. 
• The companies launched a 90-day trial in March where Gopuff offered regular and late-night delivery of BurgerFi food from a Tallahassee, Florida, food truck. Under the new agreement, BurgerFi will transfer operations, food preparation and distribution to Gopuff’s facilities and teams.
• Gopuff will offer delivery of BurgerFi’s products from more than 30 Gopuff Fresh Food Halls, representing a roughly 25% increase in BurgerFi’s location count. The chain currently operates 118 stores.

Dive Insight:

This expansion is a major development for Gopuff’s kitchen division and for BurgerFi’s nontraditional unit growth strategy.

Ghost kitchens and third-party marketplaces are two of BurgerFi’s six strategies for digital expansion as these platforms allow “for a broader BurgerFi footprint and delivery further away from traditional stores,” according to a 10-K filing.

Gopuff’s food halls, some of which are located in markets where BurgerFi doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar presence, combine the ghost kitchen and third-party marketplace tactics. Gopuff has focused on expanding its ghost kitchen offerings since launching its Gopuff Kitchen division in 2021, seeking to grow beyond its initial c-store delivery niche.

The national expansion will offer delivery during all the hours Gopuff Fresh Food Halls operate, a Gopuff spokesperson told Restaurant Dive. In some markets, those hours extend beyond the hours BurgerFi’s brick-and-mortar stores are usually open, allowing the chain to accrue incremental sales, the spokesperson wrote.

“With our nationwide infrastructure, trained teams, and control over inventory and cooking prep, we have the ability to truly partner with restaurants like BurgerFi to curate menu and help them reach more customers instantly — without putting added stress on their restaurants for delivery,” said Amelia Riba, former Pizza Hut executive and Gopuff’s vice president of Kitchens.

Gopuff will offer burgers and fries from BurgerFi, but the expansion does not include menu items from Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings. BurgerFi acquired Anthony’s in October 2021 for $161 million. Earlier this year, the brands launched a co-branded Visa rewards card offering customers cashback on purchases.