For this edition we spoke with Rob DelaCruz, Vice President and General Manager, Campus and Hospitality.

Rob’s team oversees Grubhub’s Campus business, which integrates with university dining plans so students can use their meal credits on Grubhub. Grubhub Campus also provides its partners with innovative solutions like robot delivery and reusable containers to enhance the dining experience.

Rob, you joined Grubhub a little over a year ago. Tell us about your background and how you got here.
I was drawn to Grubhub because I love food: cooking, eating out, ordering in. Everything! Before Grubhub, I worked at Google and spent most of my career building media and entertainment companies. At first glance, you might think that the media and campus companies are very different, but the common thread is finding ways to create successful relationships with consumers through intermediaries. So I jumped at the chance to join the campus team because it was a new learning opportunity that would allow me to use the insights I’d developed throughout my career to drive the next phase of growth.

What was the situation on campus when you applied and how has it developed over the past year?
When I joined, the campus business was growing rapidly, but it was somewhat isolated from the rest of Grubhub. I call it Grubhub’s best-kept secret. Over the last year, we’ve made a concerted effort to emphasize its value within the broader organization, because we have this platform that is so unique and differentiates us from our competitors. It’s unique when we say that we have an integrated relationship with big schools like Ohio State, Arizona State, and Notre Dame, because it highlights the power of our platform to build relationships with younger guests.

When we talk about the Grubhub merchant ecosystem, everyone is looking for the next generation of their customers. In our case, the next generation of diners is on college campuses across the country, and we’re excited to build relationships with them at this stage to build loyalty early on.

Looking back on your own dining experience at university, how does it compare to the dining experience of today’s students?
I went to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and the dining experience back then was pretty basic. I could eat as much as I wanted, but all the options were terrible. I remember being so tired of eating bad pizza, especially being from Jersey. I would often just opt ​​for cereal. And as far as technological innovations, the most advanced was having my meal balance on my ID card. And now, today, my son, who will soon be attending Wake Forest, has access to a wide variety of dining options on campus, including burrito bowls, brick oven pizza, and even Chick-fil-A. But the evolution of the ordering, takeout, and delivery experience is what really sets today’s students apart because it’s convenient and saves students so much time. I look forward to using my son as a research participant!

In addition to meal plan integration, we offer our campus partners a variety of innovative solutions. Can you walk me through our offerings?
Our offerings include mobile ordering, self-service kiosks, off-campus flex (which allows you to use meal plan funds at off-campus restaurants), robot delivery, and automated convenience stores with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. We also offer reusable containers and secure locker pickups. The beauty of our platform is that all of these technologies are integrated into one unified app, making it easy for students and campuses to manage. And as an added bonus, we also offer Grubhub+ for students, which they can continue to access while attending school.

While mobile ordering is core to how we integrate with university partners, it’s the innovative solutions we provide that allow Grubhub to expand its reach and adoption across campuses. Many campuses are focused on technology forwarding and expect these types of innovative solutions so they can stay on top of the latest offerings.

The 2023-2024 school year was the best year yet for Grubhub Campus. What do you attribute the teams’ success to?
I would say it comes down to three main things. First, our team is incredibly passionate about what we do. Second, our platform is top-notch. It’s the best in the industry, offers a variety of pre-built solutions, and integrates with many third-party vendors, making it super easy for campuses to use. Lastly, being part of Grubhub provides us with a unique revenue opportunity. We can price our platform more competitively and generate revenue not just from platform fees, but also from marketplace orders. This combination has helped us win more campus deals and achieve significant growth over the years.

What are you and the team most excited about now that students are returning to campus this fall?
This is our busiest time, similar to e-commerce after Black Friday. We are adding over 60 new campuses to our portfolio and now support a total of over 360 schools nationwide. That’s a 21% increase from last year. The success of our platform is not limited to just new schools, we are also deepening our presence on many campuses, expanding our kiosk footprint with over 55 new deployments and adding over a dozen robot delivery campuses, reflecting double-digit growth across the board. This is undoubtedly our busiest back-to-school season, but it’s so exciting to see the market momentum.

How does the campus team fit into Grubhub’s overall strategy?
Our goals align with the company’s broader focus on growth. In 2023, our total mobile orders grew by 16%, and we expect to double-digit growth again this year. Additionally, Grubhub is now reaching half a million new students and serving more than four and a half million students in total. Our goal is to maintain this double-digit growth trajectory and build a strong foundation with Grubhub’s next generation of diners.

It sounds like the campus team has a lot of momentum right now. Tell us about the team dynamics and the culture you foster.
As I mentioned, our team is passionate about campus business, which makes it easy to create a culture of collaboration and trust. This year, we’ve also increased collaboration with other Grubhub teams, which has accelerated our growth. For example, we recently partnered with the Merchant Network team. We identified key campuses with the greatest growth opportunities, highlighted the best restaurants requested by students, and even developed a unique campus pitch. This effort has increased our merchant win rates on campuses by more than 2x and accelerated our campus order growth. Prioritizing impact is a mantra I promote, to ensure we focus on tasks that will drive the most meaningful results for Grubhub.