The Future of Restaurant Delivery with Meredith Sandland

Episode Summary:

On this episode of Food Tech Talk: Supply Chain Insights From Farm to Fork, Lydia Adams speaks with Meredith Sandland about transforming restaurant delivery through technology and dedicated delivery fleets. Drawing from her experience at Taco Bell, Kitchen United, and now as CEO of Empower Delivery, Meredith explains why the current third-party delivery model creates food safety risks and quality challenges.

The pair discuss a common challenge for restaurants: spending significant resources on food safety throughout their supply chain, only to lose visibility and control at the delivery stage — and how Empower Delivery’s solves it with dedicated on-demand fleets and AI-powered timing systems that ensure food reaches customers quickly and safely.

The conversation explores how restaurants can maintain brand standards and food safety protocols through dedicated delivery drivers, even while using a contractor model. Meredith predicts a shift back to in-house delivery systems, similar to Walmart Spark and Amazon Flex, as restaurants seek better control over food safety and customer experience. Meredith’s advises listeners that “the enemy of good food is time” and shares how technology can help restaurants minimize the time between preparation and delivery.

Listen to the episode below for advice for restaurants on committing to delivery excellence and building customer trust through consistent food safety practices.