Dive Brief:

• Gopuff has named former Pizza Hut executive Amelia Riba as vice president of its Kitchen prepared food division, according to a company announcement. She will be responsible for setting strategy as well as driving expansion and innovation.
• Riba previously served as chief brand officer at Pizza Hut UK & Europe, where she led brand strategy and helped fuel expansion.
• Gopuff is rapidly expanding the basket-building prepared foods unit and looks to make it a core part of its offering.

Dive Insight:

To lead up its fast-growing foodservice division, Gopuff has turned to a restaurant executive with experience leading a well-known brand internationally.

Before working as chief brand officer for Pizza Hut in Europe, Riba held the same position in its Latin America and Caribbean division, overseeing brand strategy, boosting product innovation and helping implement food safety practices for 29 countries in that region. Riba also developed a “turnaround plan” for Yum Brands, which runs Pizza Hut and numerous other restaurant brands, in Mexico and Brazil.

She has also held marketing management roles at Burger King, Nestlé and Mattel, according to the announcement. 

Gopuff launched its Kitchen unit last summer and as of late last year had around 60 units in operation. Most locations operate alongside Gopuff’s fulfillment centers and provide meal options for delivery customers. In New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, Gopuff has a walk-in Kitchen location that serves pizza, shakes and other dishes. 

In a December interview, Gopuff’s Senior Vice President of Business Daniel Folkman said the Kitchen business helps boost baskets and generate consumer interest. He said 90% of Kitchen orders contain items from other categories.

“You're seeing a larger ticket, a couple of dollars more per basket. You're seeing double-digit increases in frequency,” he said. “The attach rates are climbing towards becoming one of the higher attach rate categories that we have. We think it becomes a core piece of the business over time.”

Gopuff’s foodservice expansion comes as grocers along with convenience stores are figuring out ways to deliver meals to their customers. Kroger has been testing out in-store ghost kitchens while Whole Foods Market recently streamlined online ordering for prepared foods.