They always told us to not take candy from people in white vans, but taking food from black vans with Good Uncle written them? Oh hell yeah. After seeing students emerge out of nowhere with these iconic white bags and black handles, I had to know about this new trend. I interviewed the Co-CEO and Founder, Wiley Cerilli, to get all the deets.
The Logistics
Cerilli explained "50% or more restaurants will be delivery in the next 20 years" and they're jumping on this bandwagon early, but with a twist. Good Uncle partners with famous New York City restaurants to bring high-quality food to college campuses. After receiving the rights to use the exact ingredients and recipes from these renowned restaurants, Good Uncle recreates them at their kitchen, then piles the meals in vans and starts a route to deliver.
After dropping out of college three times and helping grow a company to half a billion dollars as a 19 year old kid, one could say Cerilli is pretty dope. His start-up launched at Syracuse University in January of 2017 and became profitable since day one with 98% of orders delivered within two minutes of estimated delivery time. Good Uncle's unique idea of pin point drop offs, instead of door-to-door delivery, is changing the college campus food industry.
These pin point drop offs optimize where orders are coming from to create an efficient route. The secret behind their business is that operating out of a kitchen off the beaten path saves money on prices most restauranteurs spend a lot on, such as, prime location, design, music and wait staff.
The Food
Cerilli met with numerous New York City hot spots to find recipes that could be easily replicated and taught to Good Uncle chefs quickly. They sell Joe's Pizza, using their same ingredients, ovens and even pizza box to make you feel like you're in Greenwich Village.
To date, their best seller is the chicken fingers from Sticky's Finger Joint with 6 different Sticky's sauces to choose from.
Good Uncle also creates their own recipes, including a quinoa avocado salad, a Thai summer shrimp bowl and a classic bacon, egg and cheese on a brioche bun. They also sell a heavenly mac and cheese described on their Good Uncle app as "al dente cavatappi smothered in cheese, sprinkled with cheesy breadcrumbs and baked to golden brown" – sign me tf up.
The Delivery
At the moment, ordering is only via the Good Uncle app on iPhones and is leveraging 40 deliveries per hour at the University of Delaware. 70% of the orders are drop offs, as compared to direct delivery. For drop off points there is no delivery fee, or you can opt for straight to your door delivery with a $2 up charge.
In the near future, a Good Uncle meal plan is to be announced. This paid-in-advance program is similar to a dining meal plan at any university – paying for either 2, 4 or 6 meals per week at a discounted price. The winning catch is that the meals roll over, aka if you somehow forgot to order, your money won't go to waste. So as the bag suggests, Good Uncle truly is greater than the dining hall.