Blue Bell’s Menu123 Gets Priced Out of Market

Mere months after launching its food ordering and delivery service in Montgomery County, Blue Bell’s Menu123 has shut down operations, having been undercut by rivals like Amazon, writes Kenneth Hilario for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Menu123’s business model was to arrange ordering and delivery from local restaurants that do not normally provide it. Following its initial success, the company then added grocery and courier services, thus placing it in direct competition with other companies, including Amazon.

“They’re undercutting the delivery costs, which they can do because they have the cushion they need,” said Lisa Shenk, Menu123’s President and CEO. “We saw it as becoming a price war, and we don’t feel the economics are there for a profitable business.”

The timing is also appropriate as Uber just launched its “UberEATS in Philadelphia” app, which would have reduced margins even further.

“I’m hoping to move on to working with another company doing this” said Shenk. “Or moving on to develop a new business idea and starting all over again.”

Read more about Menu123’s closing in the Philadelphia Business Journal by clicking here.