DoorDash has Alphabet’s Wing. Uber Eats has Flytrex. And this week, Grubhub became the latest food delivery app to get in on the drone delivery trend.
The company on Wednesday revealed that next week it will launch a three-month drone delivery test program in partnership with Dexa, formerly known as Drone Express. The service will be available to customers within a 2.5-mile radius of Grubhub parent Wonder’s Green Brook Township, New Jersey, location. It would represent the state’s first commercial drone food delivery offering.
“This service is a glimpse into the future of how autonomous technology will help restaurants and retailers serve customers at a completely new level,” said Beth Flippo, CEO of Dexa, in a statement.
The Dexa integration will officially launch Wednesday, allowing Grubhub users to select a drone delivery option without paying any additional service or delivery fees. Customers will be able to choose between 15 dining “concepts” devised by Wonder, all delivered out of the same location.
Powering the service will be Dexa’s DE-2020 drone, developed by its parent company Telegrid. It is manufactured mostly in the U.S., with final assembly in Dayton, Ohio.
The fully automated hexacopter follows approved flight paths designed to minimize noise, using in-flight navigation systems developed by Microsoft, though it can also be flown manually. 4G LTE and 900 megahertz communications systems allow pilots to oversee multiple aircraft at once.
Before a flight, trained Dexa flight crews ensure that items are properly packaged and secured. In the air, the drone cruises at around 40 mph. The model can carry up to 5 pounds, though Dexa describes it as “heavy-lift.” It flies directly to customers’ homes in as little as 15 minutes, lowering orders via a tether system.
The drone’s rotor has a radius just larger than 5 feet. Safety features include a parachute emergency recovery system.
Dexa’s FAA Part 135 certification—held by a few other drone delivery operators including Wing, Zipline, and Amazon’s Prime Air—allows it to fly drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the pilot. An AI-powered logistics platform manages routing, dispatch, and fleet performance.
Previously, Dexa has partnered with Kroger, Papa John’s, and other retailers.
Apps Get In On Drone Delivery
Grubhub is not the first food delivery platform to gobble up the promise of drone delivery.
In September, competitor Uber Eats made its first drone delivery investment in Flytrex. It plans to offer drone delivery to customers in a handful of pilot markets “in minutes,” though it has yet to announce any. Flytrex drones have similar specifications to the DE-2020—30 knots cruise speed, 5-mile range, and 6.6-pound payload, with Part 135 and BVLOS permissions.
Flytrex in June also partnered with DoorDash to launch service for about 100,000 Texas residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs of Frisco and Little Elm, marking its largest service yet and first delivery app integration.
It was not DoorDash’s first drone integration, however. The platform also offers delivery from Wing, debuting in the U.S. in Christiansburg, Virginia, in 2024 in partnership with Wendy’s. The partners have since expanded to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dallas-Fort Worth. And DoorDash believes the technology has the potential to stick.
“We’ve seen that it’s not just a novelty or a gimmick,” said Harrison Shih, head of product for DoorDash Labs, at a summit in Washington, D.C., last year.
Wing drone delivery is also available through the Walmart app in Dallas-Fort Worth. Wing and Walmart boast one of the nation’s largest drone delivery partnerships, with operations in Houston, Atlanta, and Charlotte. They plan to operate a network of 270 stores by 2027, with future markets including Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.
Amazon Prime Air is also in the midst of an expansion. The company’s MK30 drone is making deliveries in parts of Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Florida, and Kansas, with recently announced plans to launch in the Chicago suburbs.
