Virus forces catering platform to find newpurpose

NEWYORK » When it launched in 2017, the catering tech platform HUNGRY had one customer in mind: well-heeled office workers.

The goal was to bring delicious meals to places like Microsoft, Amazon and Google by creating networks of chefs and deliverers. HUNGRY was going to be the Uber of catering. Jay-Zwas a fan.

Then came the global pandemic.

All those gleaming offices— the lifeblood of the company — were shuttered. “There couldn’t have been a worse thing for our business than that,” said co-founder and chief operating officer Eman Pahlavani.

But HUNGRY didn’t go under. It pivoted.

These days, the company’s customers are far different than the original targets. Now it’s feeding the elderly and low-income kids. Business is better than ever.

“The best ideas come out of necessity and innovation,” Pahlavani said. “There’s always a way to get out of a bad situation.”

HUNGRY launched in the Washington, D.C., area hoping to make office lunches better and to take a bite out of the $60 billion catering market.

Instead of the same old wraps from places like Panera Bread or

Chipotle, the HUNGRY platform offered up-and- coming chefs a chance to directly feed white- collar customers.

Thai food, jerk chicken, BBQ, fusion — all of it was prepared by 200 independent chefs in their own kitchens and delivered by trained servers, connected by the company’s high-tech delivery algorithms.

HUNGRY expanded to New York, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and the Texas cities of Dallas and Austin. It donated a meal for every two sold. This spring, it landed $20 million in Series B funding.

Investors included Atlanta Falcons running back Todd Gurley, comedian Kevin Hart and “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio. Brandon Crowe, Jay-Z’s personal chef, was on board, as was the rapper. The company was valued at $100 million.

COVID-19 didn’t care.

“Our world domination plans to provide revenue to chefs trying to make it went down the drain in about one week,” Pahlavani said. “It broke my heart when COVID hit and we knew our chefs were going to get hit the hardest.”

Other food tech sites have pivoted during these trying times, including Freshly, which donated $500,000 toMeals onWheels, and Sweetgreen, which delivered free