Kitchen United has acquired Zuul, a New York-based software and ghost kitchen developer, for an undisclosed amount.
Kitchen United, based in Pasadena, Caliornia, said the deal is its first acquisition and strengthens its position as the leading restaurant delivery and take-out technology and facility company at a time when consumer demand for food off-premise continues to grow.
Kitchen United Chief Executive Michael Montagano said the acquisition is part of the company’s plan to expand into the New York City area and beyond.
“As one of the first ghost kitchens in the New York City market, Zuul has laid a foundation that will further enable expansion of this type of business model in a massive, key market,” Montagano said in a statement. “As we looked for opportunities to continue to build upon our leadership position and scale into new territories, strengthening our platform with the addition of Zuul and its cutting-edge ZuulOS technology made strategic sense.”
“We look forward to this next chapter for our company, and I’m very proud of our team for establishing a valuable, one-of-a-kind business,” said Zuul co-founder and CEO Corey Manicone. “Kitchen United has built the dominant ghost kitchen business for the restaurant industry and we share the same goal of offering restaurants cost-efficient, low risk ways to tap into the ever-growing consumer demand for off-premise food. I look forward to working with the Kitchen United team as we execute on the next chapter of growth.”
Zuul has developed technology and services to help restaurants and other food service operators grow their take-out and delivery businesses. The company’s ZuulOS platform enables food operators to create their own virtual food halls and fulfill multi-brand orders. The company also powers native online ordering and batched deliveries with a partner network. Kitchen United said this efficient delivery model will marry well with its own technology platform MIX.
The Zuul Kitchens executive team will remain after the acquisition, and the Zuul brand will be incorporated into the Kitchen United brand. The existing Zuul facility at 30 Vandam Street in Manhattan will transition to a Kitchen United MIX kitchen center. Kitchen United plans to open a second Manhattan location in October.
