Crunchbutton Comes to Oberlin
November 21, 2014
It took three minutes and 52 seconds for the new Oberlin branch of Crunchbutton, an online food ordering service and app, to receive its first order after going live Monday.
Students can order from a menu of popular local food items and Crunchbutton employees will deliver the order to their location. Customers can also post reviews and comments on the Crunchbutton site to review food or suggest new places to include.
Crunchbutton currently delivers from The Feve, Tooo Chinoise and McDonald’s, and plans to add Lupita’s, Agave Burrito Bar and Tequilaria, the Slow Train Cafe, Kim’s and Mickey Mart by the end of the week. Select items from IGA will also be available in the near future.
The goal, according to Crunchbutton Oberlin marketing representative and College senior Juliana Ruoff, is to try to deliver from the most popular restaurants around campus, especially fast food restaurants that are unable to deliver themselves.
Ruoff was responsible for coordinating the setup of the Oberlin branch and is in charge of curating the menus and ensuring that prices are up to date, as well as keeping in contact with the headquarters in California.
Ruoff informally interviewed Oberlin students to decide which businesses to include. She focused on restaurants that are open late, such as The Feve and Agave, as well as businesses like Mickey Mart that carry cigarettes and other high-demand goods.
Crunchbutton Logistics and Marketing Analyst Gabriela Yu says she feels the College has a community that would be interested in a delivery service.
“We picked Oberlin because it is the perfect campus for Crunchbutton!” said Yu in an email to the Review. “We look for schools with a great sense of community and delicious food around campus. [I] cannot wait to get started at Oberlin and give the people what they really need!”
Crunchbutton originated at Yale University. Yale senior Judd Rosenblatt and his partners made a mobile web app called “One Button Wenzel,” which allowed students to order the popular Yale chicken sandwich, the Wenzel, for delivery with one click.
Rosenblatt, now CEO of Crunchbutton, recognized that college campuses tend to have a select number of extremely popular food items and designed the site to fill this niche.
As of October, Crunchbutton had six locations across the nation and, including Oberlin, 10 more colleges will be added by the end of the semester. The company has expanded its locations by 300 percent in the last six months.
According to Ruoff, Crunchbutton’s goal is to become the go-to food service on Oberlin’s campus.
“[I hope] it’s something Oberlin students feel is filling a need,” said Ruoff.
Crunchbutton currently has a website, an app and a Facebook page, and will create an Instagram soon.