Minnow, a venture-backed IoT startup has announced that its IoT-enabled food delivery and pickup stations (called Pickup Pods) can provide residential buildings, workplaces, and other businesses with a safer, no-contact way to manage food deliveries and pickups in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Food deliveries to residential buildings and workplaces are increasing as restaurants are only offering delivery or takeout and as people avoid unnecessary contact through ‘social distancing’. Delivery services are responding by offering no-contact delivery, in which the delivery worker leaves the food on the consumer’s doorstep. That approach isn’t well suited to residential buildings and workplaces, where leaving unattended food in lobbies puts a burden on office and property managers that could become unmanageable as the volume and frequency of food deliveries increase.
A Minnow Pickup Pod takes up less than three square feet of floor space and can be installed anywhere. It requires only a standard 120V electrical outlet and can operate on either a WiFi or cellular network. Each Pod consists of cubbies that are individually insulated to keep food fresher longer and secure to prevent theft and tampering. Since Pods require no integration with food delivery apps, tenant experience platforms, or restaurant point-of-sale systems, any food delivery service or restaurant can deliver to a Minnow Pod. They also use less electricity than a 60W light bulb and are silent. It takes less than an hour to install a Pod.
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