Fastbite, a delivery service app acquired by Square in April 2015, launched in select parts of Manhattan earlier today to the joy of stoned trust fund babies who reside in the West Village.
Previously only available in San Francisco, Fastbite is the sister app of Caviar, an online food system that delivers gourmet cuisine from independent restaurants with its own squadron of food messengers. Considering that Caviar charges a flat delivery fee of $9.99 in addition to the cost of the curated meal of your choice, Fastbite is meant to serve as a more reasonably priced alternative — "reasonably priced" being a subjective term.
Fastbite's motto is, as their press release today infers, the best food in NYC "delivered in 15 minutes for under $15." How does that price range stack up against what the typical worker, for instance, spends on lunch in the U.S.?
While the median income for the average American household clocked in at a little under $54K in June 2014, the Pew Research Center reported in December 2014 that Americans were experiencing the widest wealth gap between upper income and lower income families in the past 30 years. So, for a good number of us, splurging $15 on a delivered lunch (and a tip on top of that) can add up.
Then again, a survey conducted by Visa in 2013 showed that people who earn less typically tend to spend more on lunch, as reported by Forbes: Americans who made 25K as a yearly salary spent an average of $11.70 on a meal, while the average amount spent on lunch as a whole was $10. Visa's survey also indicated that, expectantly, northeasterners (a demographic that usually includes the NYC populace) spent 14 percent more than the national average. In short: the affordability of Fastbite — especially compared with Caviar, more or less a luxury delivery service — can be considered entirely relative.
Some of the restaurants mentioned in the press release include Manhattan staples like Katz's, Nom Wah Tea Parlor and Frankies 570 Sputino. Fastbite can be used for ordering online or via the Caviar app available for iOS and Android.
