Lexpert Magazine

August 2019

Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.

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LEXPERT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2019 17 TECHNOLOGY COLUMNS erupts, but soon things are back to normal). While you might question the wisdom of how money is made nowadays with a new internet-induced business model, the fact that there is currently a whole new category of food delivery available to consumers is a wonderful thing. Consider just how many options the typical food eater (that would be all of us) has today in a fair-sized city. For those who want to cook (yes, that`s still a thing too, apparently), there is the local farmer's market, most Saturday mornings during the summer. ere's one down the street from where I live, and it is wonder- ful. You want to buy local produce that was picked the day before – knock yourself out (I`m not a big chef….OK, I can`t cook for beans, except for the stuffed peppers dish I make in memory of my late mother…she taught me how to make it the week-end before I went away to university…..except precise measurements of ingredients wasn`t her thing….so every time I make it, it tastes differently……but anyway, I still love it: BUT, last week-end I bought at the market a fresh sourdough loaf, and had it with a slice of beefsteak tomato….yowza…!). Competitive Disruption Means Technology Driven Alternatives – and That`s a Good Thing I digress. e point is, if you want to cook, there's the farmer's market, and of course the standard grocery stores. And then within the latter, there are the brand- ed foods, but also the somewhat cheaper home brands of the grocer – more choice, more competition, a good thing. And if you decide you're in a hurry, at the grocery store you can also pick up a chicken that`s already roasted instead of one that`s raw, together with one or two sides (and a sushi starter) if you want to eat well at home. Competitive Disruptors And now for the disruptors. You want to cook, you actually like to cook (good on you!), but you`re a busy professional or busi- ness person, and you don't have the time to plan a menu, and then go to the grocery store, and then find all the different ingre- In Praise of Tech Driven Alternatives I was in New York recently, and I think the number of bicycle food delivery people since the last time I was there had ballooned exponentially – they were everywhere. Is no one cooking a home meal anymore in NYC? (Apparently some new condos in the Big Apple are being built with tiny, or even no, kitchens, because they are not get- ting used much anymore in some quarters). What used to be a thing – ordering a meal through a food delivery platform - is now a very big thing. Indeed, there are even "ghost kitchens" (or "cloud kitchens) now, that are restaurants without the dine in experience, created just to service the food delivery market. And the venture capital money is flowing into the space at a record pace; literally hundreds of millions of dol- lars, and pounds in the UK, and Euros in the European Union. Interestingly, but also in keeping with how "the next new thing" is financed nowadays, apparently only one such service is making money – the rest are burning through their invested amounts like saganaki at a Greek restaurant (you know, where the server lights the alcohol poured on top of the cheese, a huge flame By George S. Takach PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

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