Goldbelly CEO on holiday orders: 'There's been a massive, massive influx'

Joe Ariel, Goldbelly CEO, joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how orders have been around the holidays and the impact of COVID-19 on business.

Video Transcript

JULIA HYMAN: And we're bringing into the stream Goldbelly's CEO Joe Ariel. Goldbelly is a food e-commerce platform that is helping connect all sorts of restaurants. I know I've even ordered from Goldbelly, and I think, Joe, you all have been around, what, seven years now? You were seeing growth before the pandemic and I'd imagine, just kind of anecdotally, you all probably seen a pretty big acceleration in orders this year. Would love to kind of understand what's happening from your vantage point and what are you seeing.

JOE ARIEL: Yeah, we have seen a huge increase on both sides of our marketplace. You know, the obvious one is for consumers who miss foods from places they've been, able now to get it shipped to their door wherever they are. I know you went to school in Carolina and now you can get biscuits even if you're in the heart of New York City from some of the best places down South.

And on the other side of the marketplace, restaurants and chefs and artisans now for the first time have an omnichannel presence and they can reach customers outside of their local area. So we've really seen a tremendous influx on the consumer side and on the partner side on the marketplace and we don't expect that to change anytime soon.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Joe, I was reading that you got the inspiration for this because you were craving biscuits and hot chicken from Nashville, right? I would-- I would want Slyman's corned beef from Cleveland. And I went to your site to see if they're on there. They're not. I'm calling them tomorrow because nothing says Christmas to the mishpachah like corned beef. But--

JOE ARIEL: By the way, they're going to be on soon. They're going to be on soon.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Are they? Is Slyman's coming on? I am so--

JOE ARIEL: Soon.

ADAM SHAPIRO: --there. I'm telling you, world, the best corned beef in North America. Slyman's, East 30th Street, Cleveland. OK. So here's the deal. We just had a thing about how FedEx and UPS are having trouble delivering right now. Now this will pass once the holidays are done. Has there been a slowdown for you in getting things delivered?

JOE ARIEL: The opposite of a slowdown, actually. There's been a massive, massive influx. There always is around this time of year in our business, but this year more than ever. You know, we're seeing delays with the carriers but everything, you know, on the site is packed to have an extra day or two in transit. And the weather is very cold, so that helps out as well. But so far nothing major to report on that side. And a huge, huge influx of orders and a lot of partners are actually sold out through Christmas and through New Year's.

JULIA HYMAN: You know, Joe, you mentioned the word omnichannel. I cover traditional retailers and it's not usually a word that you hear in the restaurant sector, yet it is really interesting to me. Would love to kind of understand that a bit more and how persistent you think this trend might be, even, you know, kind of in a world, like post-- post-vaccine where maybe people kind of resume travel and go visit their favorite corned beef hash place in Cleveland or whatever Adam was referring to--

ADAM SHAPIRO: Not hash. Just a good old corned beef sandwich. None of that hash.

JOE ARIEL: Corn beef on rye. And we can't wait for that moment. Julia, I'd-- I'd put it this way to you. Food is a $1.7 trillion category. And it is the only category that before we came along was limited by what you have in a three or four mile radius. And so we are the first app and website where you are ordering the foods that you love and it doesn't matter where you live. So really it's all about food love. As a mission, our mission is to bring people comfort through food, whatever they dream of, wherever they are. So we're really focused on the love, not the speed, not the cheapest, but the best. The things that are most meaningful to you as a consumer. And so that's where we sit in the marketplace.

ADAM SHAPIRO: I so want you to go public because I so want to invest in this as well as eat. I mean, not only Goldman's. I'm doing my career via food here. Marble's, Indianapolis, great soul food. It was on the west side of the city. All right, I can't find them on the site. Can you get them on too? Because if-- if you do that, you got a home run.

JOE ARIEL: [INTERPOSING VOICES] steakhouse. You know St. Elmo's steakhouse?

ADAM SHAPIRO: Yeah--

JOE ARIEL: The famous--

ADAM SHAPIRO: --of course. The shrimp cocktail with the horseradish.

JOE ARIEL: You got it on the site.

ADAM SHAPIRO: I am so there. I'm going to lose a bucket of money.

JOE ARIEL: [INAUDIBLE]

[LAUGHTER]

JULIA HYMAN: Well, Joe Ariel, CEO of Goldbelly, you certainly made us very hungry with that segment. Thank you so much for joining us today.

JOE ARIEL: If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing my job.