Staying up to date with food delivery market news and restaurant tech trends

Part of my job is to know what is happening in the industry our company works for. And this task is not becoming any easier day by day. Food delivery and restaurant tech markets are super hot right now and produce more news than a sane working person with a family can possibly read let alone digest. Every day, there are major market exits and entrances, M&As, and investment rounds. A true cherry on top is gig economy workers' regulations, which are being reconsidered across the world. So I came up with a list of resources I monitor on a regular basis.

I curated so heavily, I did not even get to the list of five, it's only four items long. I arranged them by channel. Let's dig in.

LINKEDIN

There are many great people writing relevant things, but there is only one account I check every day.

#ONE -> Stephan Soroka

With Stephan's updates, I feel I don't have to open any actual news outlets at all. I get to know who bought who, who enters/leaves which markets, what are the regulatory changes. The focus is not just food but also (mainly?) grocery delivery, which I like as eventually, everything will collide into one anyways. Follow him here.

NEWSLETTER

I'm subscribed to tons of newsletters, but there are just two I ever open. One is CB Insights, not going to talk about it now, and the other one is ->

#TWO-> Matt Newberg's newsletter HNGRY

This one is focused more on the restaurants and everything around them. To me, this newsletter is less of a news source but more a commentary and analysis source. You don't get that much with a free version, but there are occasional gems I dig in from there, (such as this piece on DoorDash VS NYC suit on data privacy for example). I also enjoy the visual style of the newsletter, all pixelated, for a change. You can subscribe here.

PODCAST

I do ongoing research on podcasts, I still have just two that I listen to most.

#THREE-> Hospitality Hangout from Foodable Network

The podcast by @Michael Schatzberg and @Jimmy Frischling (The Restaurant Guy and the Finance Guy). Usually, they have guests who operate restaurants, and I love these episodes most as they help me put myself into the shoes of the people we work for. They also occasionally host tech vendors and these episodes are insightful as well. My favorite ones were with @Noah Glass from olo and Zack oats from Ovation. Tune in here.

#FOUR-> Industry Focus from Motley Fool

This podcast is for investors watching stock markets. It may seem to be off. It is not. What I discovered (thanks to my husband for whom this podcast really is) is that they speak a lot about food businesses and the tech serving them. To me, the most exciting episodes are the ones where they discuss companies everyone in the food industry knows, and they have barely heard of them. If I remember correctly it was the case with olo (pre-IPO episode). The beauty of it is that they cut through the hype and just look at the numbers. I feel it helps me see beyond just things that are in front of me. Also, the show production quality is extremely high and it is just a pleasure hearing intelligent people speaking about interesting topics and phrasing their thoughts so beautifully (well, most of the time). Enjoy with me here.

Have anything to add? Would appreciate your recommendation (would be nice to have a list of FIVE, not FOUR things).