Grubhub Gave Nearly $10 Million To Help Keep Restaurants Afloat In 2022

The politically-aware foodie may be all too familiar with the ever-increasing list of external forces that threaten the food service industry. To mention the climate crisis, global crop destruction, and disease-related pandemics would almost seem redundant. Inflation reached its highest rate in 40 years in June 2022 against the backdrop of an emaciated job market, in which workers realize the value of their labor and demand better working conditions. (Starbucks employees alone have successfully unionized more than 200 stores since December 2021.) 

To throw some water on the fire, the U.S. Small Business Association gave 169 restaurants a total of $83 million in aid in November 2022. The same month, New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection proposed a historic $24 minimum wage for third-party delivery drivers. Grubhub employees would be among the workers benefiting from this wage increase. 

Grubhub is continuing to lead the pack in this wave of food industry revitalization. According to a press release, the Grubhub Community Fund partnered with 34 U.S. non-profit organizations to provide delivery-driving jobs and curb food insecurity. The Fund also sent $1,250,000 in aid to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees during the Ukraine crisis. But it looks like one of Grubhub's contributions has a much smaller scale in mind — small businesses, to be specific. That's why it gave nearly $10 million to help keep restaurants afloat in 2022.

Grubhub dispersed more than $22 million across at least 350 different communities nationwide in 2022. This impressive sum was divided into three primary focus areas: food distribution, job creation, and restaurant fortification. The company provided roughly 545,4000 meals to folks in need, 17,500 of which came from non-chain local restaurants across all five boroughs of NYC. The company also gave $800,000 in grants directly to Grubhub drivers and affiliated non-profits to stimulate the industry at a community level.  

But perhaps most notably, the company handed over a whopping $9.6 million to keep the doors open at more than 1,000 restaurants. Specifically, Grubhub has helped with the everyday hurdles that add up: replacing equipment, keeping up with employee payroll, maintaining dining rooms, and navigating indoor/outdoor dining during winter months.

Grubhub's philanthropic efforts stand in stark contrast to the activities of the National Restaurant Association (NRA). The NRA runs the online food safety training program ServSafe, which is both mandatory in many states and paid for out of the pockets of workers — making it part of the NRA's insidious history of lobbying to keep restaurant workers' wages low. With any luck, Grubhub's outspoken championing for its employees and the food service industry at large will hopefully inspire other large-scale companies to follow the lead.