A new food delivery service that’s three times faster than Uber Eats just launched in Toronto

A food industry expert has developed a new service inspired by the pandemic, promising delivery that’s up to three times faster than Uber Eats.

Tired of delivery app orders taking forever and drivers getting lost in the corridors of your building? Enter Jetson, a service that allows you to order on-demand delivery from the food and retail options in your own building and surrounding buildings.

“The pandemic effectively brought the hospitality and events industry to a standstill. Our work, entirely built on human connection, was suddenly made illegal overnight,” Jetson founder Andrew Oliver tells YourCityWithIN.com.

“At the time, the common advice was to pivot to delivery, but the established apps were taking 30 to 40 per cent commissions, which left little to no profit. Even building our own driver network didn’t offer a viable solution. It became clear that the system was broken. I wanted to create something better, something more equitable for everyone involved.”

Oliver was initially inspired by the pandemic to start up Jetson in 2020, and by 2021, they had raised their first round of funding. As the present and CEO of powerhouse restaurant group Oliver & Bonacini, Oliver has plenty of experience in the business of delicious food.

“A pivotal moment came during a trip to New York with Compass Group, where I toured Google’s offices and saw how central food and hospitality were to their culture. It sparked a question. Why should that level of service be limited to large companies?” says Oliver.

“Even before the pandemic, tenants were asking for more than just office space, they wanted lifestyle, amenities, and a sense of culture. When remote work took hold, it became clear that experience, not location, would define the future of office life. Jetson was born from that insight: to reimagine the workplace through the lens of hospitality.”

Jetson currently works with One York Food Hall, Queen’s Cross Food Hall and select retailers in CF Toronto Eaton Centre to provide pickup and delivery to five office towers and two condo towers, and there are plans for expansion.

“Jetson is currently operating in One York Food Hall in One York Office & Condo, and Queen’s Cross Food Hall and select retailers in CF Toronto Eaton Centre to provide pickup and delivery to five office towers and two condo towers,” says Oliver.

“Jetson achieves fast delivery by leveraging the incredible density of people within corporate office towers. Imagine a building with 25,000 square feet of ground-level space but 800,000 square feet of occupied office space above it, thousands of people all in one vertical community.”

The Jetson system uses runners instead of drivers who are able to make over 30 deliveries an hour within a building due to their knowledge of the layout, elevator timings and optimal routes. Still, even with speed on their side, Oliver knows Jetson has to offer more to office goers.

“The slow return to office combined with rising inflation pushing more people to bring lunch from home has been a challenge,” says Oliver.

Jetson aims to address this by offering better quality food, special offers and new features, as well as lower prices and quick issue resolution thanks to their hyper localized model.

“Getting food right is our top priority because it’s an essential part of the workday. Once we’ve nailed that, we plan to expand Jetson into a full-service platform that enhances office culture and simplifies daily life,” says Oliver.

“Our goal is to help people save time and enjoy more moments that matter, like with family and work-life balance.”