Uber Eats Launches National ‘Listening Tour’ After Buying Postmates for $2.65 Billion

First on the agenda: Convince the rest of the country to screw gig workers out of employee benefits...

After coming to an agreement in July over an acquisition, Uber Eats has officially bought Postmates in a $2.65 billion all-stock deal. The deal consolidates two of the biggest players in the third-party delivery space. In a statement, Uber Eats explained that “the consumer-facing Postmates and Uber Eats apps will continue to run separately, supported by a more efficient, combined merchant and delivery network.”

The deal comes on the heels of California’s passing of Prop 22, which was heavily campaigned for by Uber Eats, Postmates, and other delivery services. Many California voters say they were misled into voting yes on the ballot measure, which denies delivery workers employee benefits and bargaining rights. After that win, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company would “loudly advocate” for more Prop 22-style legislation around the country, and apparently that push is already happening.

Pushing this legislation could be what Uber Eats’ new “listening tour,” announced by the company yesterday, is about. In addition to announcing the Postmates deal, Uber Eats is asking restaurants and merchants to register for virtual listening sessions so it can “put restaurants and merchants at the head of the table and create an open dialogue on products, policies, pricing, and more.” Given that Postmates is among the many third-party delivery services accused of listing restaurants without their permission, restaurants might have a lot to say.

And in other news...

• Bon Appétit published a recipe for Haitian Soup Joumou from Marcus Samuelsson’s new book and it is being widely panned, with many Haitians saying it in no way resembles the traditional dish. It’s gotten to the point where the book’s co-author Yewande Komolafe is specifying she had no part in developing the recipe and wants her name taken off the page. [BA]

• For all of December, Starbucks is giving free coffee to healthcare workers, hospital staff, mental health workers, and active-duty military. [CNN]
• Bang energy drink is suing PepsiCo, saying the company “has falsely represented to independent distributors and retailers that PepsiCo is Bang’s exclusive distributor” after they ended their exclusivity deal. [Fooddive]
• Cultured chicken meat grown in a lab is going on sale for the first time ever in Singapore. And now the question: does this count as vegan? [The Guardian]
• Would a pizza made with 250 types of cheese even taste good? [NYPost]
• The alcohol industry really does not want people to know alcohol is a carcinogen. [The Counter]
• Popeyes is launching its chicken sandwich in Mexico. [Adweek]