WO2023000031A1

WO2023000031A1 - A method of processing a food order and an associated computing system

Info

Publication number: WO2023000031A1
Application number: PCT/AU2022/050771
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shane Youssef
Original assignee: Bellee Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2021-07-20
Filing date: 2022-07-20
Publication date: 2023-01-26
Also published as: AU2021104335A4

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of processing a food order making use of a computing system (8) that communicates with communications devices (14) disposed in a plurality of kitchens (1). The computing system (8) also communicates with the computing systems of a number of third-party food delivery groups. The computing system (8) also drives a display (5), which displays information to assist delivery personnel to know when to pick up orders for delivery.

Description

A METHOD OF PROCESSING A FOOD ORDER AND AN ASSOCIATED COMPUTING SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to devices and associated methods for processing food delivery orders. Embodiments of the present invention find application in the field of home delivery of restaurant prepared food.

BACKGROUND ART

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia or elsewhere before the priority date of this application.

It has been appreciated by the inventor of the present application that establishing a new restaurant typically involves many challenging tasks, such as finding a suitable site, buying or leasing the site, building suitable premises, and fitting out the premises including installing a commercial -grade kitchen. This process is often quite daunting for a potential restaurateur. In particular, the quantum of the required financial investment will typically dictate that the business must run profitably for an extended length of time before the restaurateur is likely to receive any return on investment. This can effectively constitute quite a gamble for an aspiring restaurateur.

Restaurants will typically look to supplement their income by providing take away and home delivery services. This may require the restaurant to collaborate with one or more third-party food delivery groups (such as, for example, Uber, Deliveroo and Menulog in an Australian context). These third-party food delivery groups typically make use of delivery personnel using bicycles, motorcycles, cars and the like to transport food orders from restaurants to customers. Whilst awaiting a new delivery job, the delivery personnel will typically choose to position themselves at a location where new delivery jobs arise frequently, such as close to a food court or other restaurant hub. It has been appreciated by the inventor of the present application that the mobile nature of such delivery work has typically meant that little consideration has been given to the working conditions and comfort of such delivery personnel. Such issues may include difficulties in securing parking, difficulties in getting to remote restaurants and a potential lack of a safe, clean, comfortable area in which the delivery personnel may rest, relax and socialise between jobs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or substantially ameliorate, one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of processing a food order, the method including: providing a computing system communicatively linked to at least one third-party food delivery group, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a plurality of communications devices respectively disposed in a plurality of kitchens, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a display positioned for viewing by a plurality of food delivery personnel; receiving data at the computing system from the at least one third-party food delivery group, said data being indicative of a food order to be placed with a specified kitchen; displaying an order request corresponding to said data at the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen; receiving data at the computing system from the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen, said data being indicative that the food order is ready to be picked up; and causing the display to display an indication that the food order is ready to be picked up.

In one embodiment at least some of the plurality of kitchens are disposed in close proximity to each other on a single parcel of land. In this embodiment a portion of the parcel of land may be designated as a resting and/or waiting area for use by the plurality of food delivery personnel and the display may be disposed within or adjacent to said portion.

Preferably the method includes receiving data at the computing system from the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen, said data being indicative that the food order has been accepted and said data being indicative of an estimated time within which the food order should be ready to be picked up. Preferably this includes causing the display to display an indication that the food order has been accepted, along with an indication of the estimated time within which the food order should be ready to be picked up. A preferred embodiment of the method includes causing the display to display an indication of the specified kitchen.

In one embodiment the computing system has access to a data structure corresponding to the plurality of kitchens. In this embodiment the data structure may include data indicative of a lease status associated with each of the kitchens. The data structure may also include data indicative of the at least one third-party food delivery group with which each kitchen is affiliated. The data structure may also include data indicative of a performance of each business associated with a kitchen.

In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computing system configured for use in the method as described above, the computing system being communicatively linked to at least one third-party food delivery group, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a communications device disposed in each of a plurality of kitchens, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a display positioned for viewing by a plurality of food delivery personnel, the computing system being configured to receive data from the at least one third-party food delivery group, said data being indicative of a food order to be placed with a specified kitchen, the computing system being configured to cause the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen to display an order request corresponding to said data, the computing system being configured to receive data from the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen, said data being indicative that the food order is ready to be picked up, and the computing system being configured to cause the display to display an indication that the food order is ready to be picked up.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, provided by way of example only, together with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure l is a flow chart illustrating steps in an embodiment of the inventive method;

Figure 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of a parcel of land having a plurality of kitchens disposed thereon; Figure 3 is a schematic depiction of system architecture utilized in an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic depiction of system infrastructure utilized in an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic depiction of a database structure utilized in an embodiment of the invention;

Figures 6A and 6B together form a depiction of interactions between individual components of a system implementing an embodiment of the inventive method;

Figure 7 is an example screen depiction for display to a plurality of food delivery personnel;

Figures 8 to 13 are example screen depictions for display within a specified kitchen implementing an embodiment of the inventive method; and

Figures 14 to 23 are example screen depictions for display to an administrator implementing an embodiment of the inventive method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring to figure 1, an embodiment of the inventive method commences at Step SI with the provision of a plurality of kitchens 1. As shown in figure 2, the kitchens 1 in the illustrated embodiment are all disposed in close proximity to each other on a single parcel of land. This contributes to ease of pick up of food orders by the delivery personnel, because the food prepared by a number of different kitchens associated with various restaurant businesses may be picked up at a single parcel of land. Additionally, the layout provides a central corridor 6 from which each of the kitchens 1 may be accessed, which also contributes to ease of pick up. These kitchens 1 are known as ‘dark kitchens’ because they are not associated with any dining areas at which customers may eat the food prepared in those kitchens.

Rather, the intention is that substantially all of the food prepared in those kitchens is likely to be delivered to customers through the process to be described below. However, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, some or all of the kitchens 1 may be part of a regular restaurant layout offering a traditional dining area. Additionally, in other embodiments, some or all of the participating kitchens 1 may be geographically separate from each other.

As shown in figure 2, the layout of the parcel of land also includes parking areas 2 for cars, motorcycles, bikes and the like, along with a loading zone 4, which are intended to be used by the delivery personnel. The layout also includes a room 3 that is designated as the drivers’ tea room, in which the delivery personnel can wait, rest, relax and socialise in relative comfort and safety. This room 3 includes a television, which is used as a display 5 upon which information such as that shown by way of example in figure 7 is displayed to the delivery personnel. In other embodiments the display 5 is disposed adjacent to the room 3 in a position that is within sight of the delivery personnel waiting in the room 3. In yet other embodiments, multiple displays 5 are positioned so as to be viewable from numerous vantage points throughout the facility.

Step S2 is the provision of a computing system 8 that is depicted schematically in figures 3 and 4. The computing system 8 includes an application programming interface in the form of first API gateway 9 that maintains a communications link with the external computing hardware of the various third-party food delivery groups such as Uber 10,

Menulog 11 and Deliveroo 12. It is the first API gateway 9 that allows for the communications depicted in figures 6A and 6B between the computing system 10 of the third- party food delivery group 10 (labelled “Uber Service” in figure 6 A) and the computing system 8 of the preferred embodiment (labelled “EatzUp Service” in figure 6A). The computing system 8 includes a second API gateway 13 that maintains a communications link between the computing system 8 and various hardware that is distributed throughout the facility, which includes communications devices 14 disposed in each of the kitchens 1. These communications devices 14 are typically in the form of tablets, phones, laptop and/or desktop computers, and the like. The second API gateway 13 also maintains a communications link between the computing system 8 and the display 5 in room 3. This allows the computing system 8 to control the information displayed on the display 5 that is intended to be viewed by the food delivery personnel.

Each of the API gateways 9, 13 work in conjunction with a respective pair of cloud computing modules 17, 18 to enable some or all of the computing system 8 to be implemented in a cloud computing context. The cloud-based components of the computing system 8 include a data store and cache service 19 and a message broker service 20.

The computing system 8 also includes a relational database 15 that is used to store operational information in the database structure shown in figure 5. Additionally, a document database 16 is used to store documents such as lease documents and the like.

The computing system 8 is configured to be responsive to various levels of user, for example, kitchen staff, such as cooks and their assistants. It is also responsive to facility administrators and kitchen administrators. As will be described in more detail below, each user has an ability to log into the system and to access the functionality that is appropriate to their role. For example, facility administrators can operate the computing system 8 so as to set up new kitchens. Kitchen administrators can set up new kitchen staff on the computing system 8. Facility administrators can access performance data associated with all of the kitchens and kitchen administrators can access performance data associated with their specific kitchen. The kitchen staff can make inputs for the processing of orders.

Whilst closed, the kitchens 1 have a status within the computing system 8 of ‘Not Accepting Orders’, as illustrated in figure 8. Whilst in this status, orders are not communicated to the relevant kitchen 1. Rather, they are automatically denied. Once they are ready to open, the kitchen staff of a kitchen 1 press the “Accept Order” touch sensitive button 48 as shown on a screen of the communications device 14 that is located in their kitchen 1. This is communicated to the computing system 8, which toggles the status of the relevant kitchen to ‘Waiting For Orders’ status, as illustrated in figure 9.

At Step S3 the computing system 8 receives data from one of the third-party food delivery groups. The data is indicative of a food order that is to be placed with a specified one of the kitchens 1. As shown on figure 6A, this order was initiated by a standard interaction 21 between a customer and the third-party food delivery group, which in this example is Uber 10. Once this order is in the Uber Service system 10, a communication 22 from the Uber Service system 10 alerts the first API gateway 9 that an order exists. This is acknowledged by the first API gateway 9 and then a request 23 for the order details is sent from the first API gateway 9 to the Uber Service system 10. This results in the order details being sent in communication 24 from the Uber Service system 10 to the first API gateway 9, which relays the order details via communication 25 to the computing system 8. The computing system 8 responds to receipt of the order details by sending communication 26 via the second API gateway 13 to the communications device 14 that is disposed at the kitchen that was specified in the order. In Step S4 an order request corresponding to the data is displayed at the communications device 14 in the specified kitchen 1. An example order request is illustrated in figure 10. The information displayed for the kitchen staff includes the customer’s name, a unique order number, the total dollar value of the order, the number of items in the order, the third-party food delivery group through which the order was routed and a detail listing of each of the items and their pricing. Input options for the kitchen staff include an ‘Accept’ touch sensitive button 27 and a ‘Deny Order’ touch sensitive button 28.

If the kitchen staff in the specified kitchen 1 decide to accept the order (which would be the typical outcome in the ordinary course of business), at Step S5 they press the ‘Accept’ touch sensitive button 27 and then input an estimated amount of time within which the food order should be ready to be picked up. This causes their communications device 14 to send communication 29 to the computing system 8. Upon receiving the data in communication 29, the computing system 8 commences a timer count down to track the remaining time by which the order is estimated to be ready.

The computing system 8 then sends, via first API gateway 9, communication 30 to the computing system of the relevant third-party food delivery group, which in this example is Uber Service system 10, which lets the relevant third-party food delivery group know that the order has been accepted by the specified kitchen 1.

The computing system 8 then sends communication 32, which causes the display 5 to display an indication that the food order has been accepted, along with an indication of the estimated time within which the food order should be ready to be picked up. Examples of such indications are shown on the left-hand side of figure 7 under the “Cooking” heading.

Upon receipt of communication 30, the third-party food delivery group then interacts with its network of delivery personnel in its usual manner to designate a delivery person for this order. If there are delivery personnel on the facility premises, for example in the driver’s room 3, it is likely that they would be motivated to nominate for this job because pick up would be extremely easy. However, other off-site delivery personnel could also choose to nominate themselves. Indeed, due the likelihood of orders being regularly generated for the plurality of kitchens 1, along with the facilities provided for them such as room 3, it is anticipated that at least some delivery personnel may be motivated to treat the facility as a de facto home base whilst working.

Upon receipt of communication 30, the third-party food delivery group also sends a communication 37 to notify the customer that the order has been accepted and is being prepared.

If the kitchen staff does not wish to accept the order, they press the ‘Deny Order’ touch sensitive button 28 on their communications device 14. This removes the order from the screen of their communications device 14. Additionally, it causes their communications device 14 to send communication 33 to the computing system 8. Upon receiving the data in communication 33, the computing system 8 sends, via first API gateway 9, communication 34 to the computing system of the relevant third-party food delivery group to let them know that the order has been rejected by the specified kitchen 1.

If the kitchen staff does not provide any input into their communications device 14 within a specified time limit the computing system 8 and/or the computing system of the relevant third-party food delivery group may be configured so as to react to the lack of response by self-cancelling the order. In this event the computing system 8 sends a communication 35 to the communications device 14 in the specified kitchen 1, which removes the order from their screen. The computing system 8 also sends a communication 36 to the display 5 so as to remove the order from that display 5.

Returning now to the example in which the specified kitchen 1 accepted the order, the screen on the communications device 14 in the specified kitchen displays the information shown in figure 11 whilst the specified kitchen 1 prepares the ordered food. Throughout this period of time, the computing system 8 ensures that the information shown on the display 5 is regularly updated such that the remaining cooking time (i.e. the left-hand side of figure 7 under the “Cooking” heading) counts down. Hence the delivery person to whom this food order delivery job was designated can benefit from an indication of the likely remaining time before pick up will be required.

Once the food for this order has been prepared and packaged, at Step S6, the kitchen staff in the specified kitchen press the ‘Ready to Pick Up’ button 38 (as illustrated in figure 11) on their communications device 14. As illustrated in figure 6B, this causes the communications device 14 to send communication 39 to the computing system 8 with data indicating that the food order is ready to be picked up. Upon receipt of communication 39, the computing system 8 sends communication 40, which updates the information displayed on display 5 so as to move the relevant order from the ‘Cooking’ section on the left hand side of figure 7 to the ‘Ready’ section on the right hand side of figure 7. In some embodiments this visual is supplemented by an audible alert to notify the relevant delivery person that the order is ready for pick up. The displayed restaurant logo 67 informs the delivery person which of the plurality of kitchens 1 is the specified kitchen from which to pick up the order. The computing system 8 also starts a timer that allows the display to be updated to show the number of minutes 31 that have elapsed since the order was ready to be picked up.

In another embodiment of the invention, rather than picking up the order at the specified kitchen 1 at which it was prepared, the delivery person is instructed to pick up the order from another site within the facility, such as a central pick up point or counter. In this embodiment, the display 5 displays an indication of where the order is to be picked up.

Once the ‘Ready to Pick Up’ button has been pressed, the display of the communications device 14 in the specified kitchen displays information of the type shown in figure 12. This includes a ‘Print Order’ button 42, which allows the kitchen staff to print the order onto paper that may be attached to the bag carrying the ordered food.

At Step S7 the delivery person to whom this food delivery job was designated picks up the food order. The delivery person then communicates with the third party food delivery group in the normal manner, which allows the third party food delivery group to send communication 41 to notify the customer that the order has been picked up.

Hence, it can be seen from the above process that the computing system 8 does not interact directly with the customers who order the food. Nor does the computing system 8 interact directly with the delivery personnel other than via the information displayed on the display 5. Hence, this allows both the customers and the delivery personnel to process the order in the usual manner as dictated by the third party food delivery group. There are no additional requirements for either the customers or the delivery personnel to communicate with the computing system 8, which is anticipated to ease and encourage adoption of the preferred method by both the general public and the delivery personnel. Figure 6B also illustrates a situation in which the specified kitchen 1 has initially accepted an order, but subsequently realised that it must cancel the order, for example because the kitchen staff realise that the necessary ingredients are not available. In this case the kitchen staff press the ‘Cancel Order’ button 68 as shown in figure 11, which causes a screen such as that shown in figure 13 to be displayed on the communication device 14 in the specified kitchen 1. It also causes communication 43 to be sent from the communication device 14 to the computing system 8, which causes communication 44 to be sent from the computing system 8 to the first API gateway 9. This causes communication 45 to be sent from the first API gateway 9 to the computing system of the third party food delivery group, which notifies them that the order has been cancelled. Additionally, the computing system 8 sends communication 46 to remove the order from the information being displayed on display 5.

Figure 6B also illustrates a situation in which the customer or the third party food delivery group decide to cancel the order after it was accepted by a specified kitchen. This results in a cascade of communications 49, 50, 51, 52 between the various nodes that ultimately results in the removal of the order from the information being displayed on the relevant communication device 14 and from the display 5.

Figure 14 illustrates an example welcome screen shown once a facility administrator has logged into the computer system 8. This screen includes various selectable options for the facility administrator to choose, which enables the facility administrator to access and update the data stored in the relational database 15 and/or the document database 16. For example, the ‘My Locations’ button 53 enables the facility administrator to manage aspects relating to the locations of the facilities. When selected, information such as the screen shown in figure 15 is displayed, which in this example includes selectable options for locations at Kogarah 54 and Camperdown 55. Selecting one of these options, for example Kogarah 54, brings up the screen illustrated in figure 16, which provides the facility administrator with a diagrammatical representation of the various kitchens 1 that are at the Kogarah facility. The computing system 8 assembles this diagrammatical representation based upon the information stored in the relational database 15, which includes a data structure corresponding to the plurality of kitchens 1. Selecting one of the kitchens 1, such as the button 56 for Kitchen D in this example, brings up the screen illustrated in figure 17, which lists various performance data 47 for Kitchen D, such as a historical list of the orders processed by Kitchen D, including their order number, customer name, time and date, dollar value and status.

Selecting the ‘Sales and Trends’ option 57 from the log in screen shown in figure 14 brings up data of the sort illustrated in figure 18, which includes total revenue values for each kitchen and for the facility as a whole, along with trend values. It also depicts data associated with average order values and numbers of orders.

Selecting the ‘Companies and Users’ option 58 from the screen shown in figure 14 and then selecting a location and a kitchen 1 brings up a screen such as that shown in figure 19, which lists the users associated with the selected kitchen 1. The information includes user contact details and status such as ‘active’, ‘disabled’ and ‘pending’. This screen also includes an ‘Add User’ option 59, which when selected brings up the screen shown in figure 20. This includes fields into which a new user’s details may be added, along with a ‘Save and Send Welcome Email’ button 60. When pressed, this updates the data stored in the relational database 15 and automatically sends a welcome email to the newly added user. The facility administrator can also access an ‘Edit User’ option, as illustrated in figure 21, which allows for changing of the data stored in the relational database 15 that is associated with an existing user. This screen also includes a ‘Delete’ option 61 that is selectable for when staff leave.

Selecting the ‘New Kitchen Lease’ option 66 from the log in screen shown in figure 14 allows the facility administrator to input information that enables the computing system 8 to store data associated with a newly leased kitchen. Selecting the ‘Lease Agreements’ option 61 from the screen shown in figure 14 allows the facility administrator to access a diagrammatical representation of a data structure stored in either or both of the relational database 15 and/or the document database 16. As shown in figure 22, the diagrammatical representation includes a code for each kitchen 1, kitchen name, location, and data indicative of a lease status associated with each of the kitchens, such as the number of days until lease expiry and the lease expiry date. The facility administrator also has access to a lease editing screen, as illustrated for example in figure 23, which allows for changing of the data stored in the relational database 15 that is associated with each lease. As shown in figure 23, the data structure associated with each lease also includes data 63 indicative of the at least one third- party food delivery group with which each kitchen is affiliated. This screen includes options such as button 64 that initiate a routine whereby the computing system 8 communicates via first API gateway 9 with a selected third-party food delivery group so as to connect a specified kitchen 1 with the selected third-party food delivery group. It also includes a disconnect button 65 that is selectable so as to disconnect one of the third-party food delivery groups, if required.

The computing system 8 is also configured to allow the kitchen administrator users to access data associated with their kitchen 1 that assists with management of their kitchen. For example, the kitchen administrators may access data showing a total average daily ingredients list, which may be used in combination with daily historical volume data, to assist with inventory management, such as when ordering the next day’s food deliveries to the kitchen 1, for example.

In another embodiment, the third-party food delivery group provides customers with an option to make an order for food that will be prepared by multiple different kitchens 1 located within the facility. Such an order is handled in a similar manner to the order processing steps discussed above, however the computing system effectively splits the order into sub-orders that are sent to each of the relevant kitchens. For example, a customer may use the third-party food delivery group to make a single order for hamburgers from Kitchen B and vegetable soup from Kitchen D. Upon receipt of this order from the third-party food delivery group, the computing system 8 splits this up into a sub-order for hamburgers, which is sent to the communications device 14 at Kitchen B and a sub-order for vegetable soup, which is sent to the communications device 14 at Kitchen D. The computing system 8 subsequently receives communications confirming that both Kitchen B and Kitchen D have cooked their sub-orders, along with a communication confirming that the sub-orders have been packaged together and identifying where the order is to be picked up. At this point the order is treated by the computing system 8 as being ready to be picked up and delivered. It will be appreciated that this embodiment necessitates a higher degree of integration with the third-party food delivery groups (as compared to the embodiments discussed earlier in this specification) because the third-party food delivery groups must be specifically set up to enable customers to make a single order for food from multiple kitchens 1.

In another embodiment, the computing system has access to contact details for goods and/or service providers. More specifically, the database 15 includes contact details for goods and/or service providers whose goods and/or services may optionally be utilised by the kitchens 1. Examples of such goods and/or service providers include ingredient suppliers, such as food wholesalers, and service/maintenance people, such as tradespeople and the like. In one embodiment the contact details for the goods and/or service providers are inputted into the database by the facility administrators. This is particularly advantageous if the facility administrators make use of the collective purchasing power potentially offered by the numerous on-site kitchens to secure discounted rates from the goods and/or service providers. In another embodiment, the contact details for the goods and/or service providers are inputted into the database 15 by the kitchen administrators. This latter option is typically suitable for a kitchen that makes use of specific goods and/or service providers that are unlikely to be required by the other on-site kitchens.

Information defining the goods and/or services provided by each of the goods and/or service providers, along with an associated pre-negotiated rate for each of the goods and/or services, is also stored in the database 15. This allows for the computing system 8 to be configured to allow kitchen staff and/or kitchen administrators to operate their respective communications device 14 so as to order goods and/or services from the previously entered goods and/or service providers. By way of example, if a staff member of one of the kitchens wishes to order a 20kg bag of potatoes, that staff member may use their communications device 14 to access the ordering information stored within the database 15. Some searching of the ordering information reveals a food wholesaler with whom agreed rates for the supply of potatoes have been pre-negotiated. In this example, the kitchen staff member may review the agreed pricing for a 20kg bag of potatoes. If this is considered acceptable, the kitchen staff member makes a suitable input onto their communications device 14, which instructs the computing system 8 to send an order for a 20kg bag of potatoes to the relevant goods provider. This order is sent via the second API gateway to the goods provider. In one embodiment, the computing system 8 is configured to allow the kitchen staff member to execute a payments routine to pay the agreed price for a 20kg bag of potatoes when placing the order. In another embodiment, the computing system 8 is configured to allow the kitchen staff member to order the 20kg bag of potatoes on a cash-on-delivery basis. Alternatively, if the kitchen staff member finds the offering of the food wholesaler to be unacceptable (for example if the price is deemed too high) the kitchen staff member may operate their communications device 14 so as to back out of the ordering process. The kitchen staff member is then free to order the potatoes via other traditional channels. Any third-party identifying indicia, such as restaurant logos or the like, that are depicted in the drawings, are merely intended to provide examples of potential entities that could theoretically choose to participate in an embodiment of the invention. The use of such identifying indicia is not intended to represent or imply that any entities thereby identified are affiliated with, make use of, or endorse the invention.

While a number of preferred embodiments have been described, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

nil CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method of processing a food order, the method including: providing a computing system communicatively linked to at least one third-party food delivery group, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a plurality of communications devices respectively disposed in a plurality of kitchens, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a display positioned for viewing by a plurality of food delivery personnel; receiving data at the computing system from the at least one third-party food delivery group, said data being indicative of a food order to be placed with a specified kitchen; displaying an order request corresponding to said data at the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen; receiving data at the computing system from the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen, said data being indicative that the food order is ready to be picked up; and causing the display to display an indication that the food order is ready to be picked up.

2. A method of processing a food order according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of kitchens are disposed in close proximity to each other on a single parcel of land.

3. A method of processing a food order according to claim 2, wherein a portion of the parcel of land is designated as a resting and/or waiting area for use by the plurality of food delivery personnel and wherein the display is disposed within or adjacent to said portion.

4. A method of processing a food order according to any one of the preceding claims including receiving data at the computing system from the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen, said data being indicative that the food order has been accepted and said data being indicative of an estimated time within which the food order should be ready to be picked up.

5. A method of processing a food order according to claim 4, including causing the display to display an indication that the food order has been accepted, along with an indication of the estimated time within which the food order should be ready to be picked up.

6. A method of processing a food order according to any one of the preceding claims including causing the display to display an indication of the specified kitchen.

7. A method of processing a food order according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the computing system has access to a data structure corresponding to the plurality of kitchens.

8. A method of processing a food order according to claim 7 wherein the data structure includes data indicative of a lease status associated with each of the kitchens.

9. A method of processing a food order according to claim 7 or 8 wherein the data structure includes data indicative of the at least one third-party food delivery group with which each kitchen is affiliated.

10. A method of processing a food order according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the data structure includes data indicative of a performance of each business associated with a kitchen.

11. A computing system configured for use in the method as defined in claims 1 to 10, the computing system being communicatively linked to at least one third-party food delivery group, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a communications device disposed in each of a plurality of kitchens, the computing system being further communicatively linked with a display positioned for viewing by a plurality of food delivery personnel, the computing system being configured to receive data from the at least one third- party food delivery group, said data being indicative of a food order to be placed with a specified kitchen, the computing system being configured to cause the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen to display an order request corresponding to said data, the computing system being configured to receive data from the communications device disposed at the specified kitchen, said data being indicative that the food order is ready to be picked up, and the computing system being configured to cause the display to display an indication that the food order is ready to be picked up.

12. A computing system according to claim 11 wherein the computing system has access to contact details for goods and/or service providers.

13. A computing system according to claim 12 wherein the computing system has access to information defining goods and/or services provided by each of the goods and/or service providers.

14. A computing system according to claim 13 wherein the computing system has access to information including pre-defmed pricing associated with said goods and/or services.

15. A computing system according to claim 14 wherein at least some of the communications devices are operable so as to place an order for said goods and/or services from at least one of the goods and/or service providers.

16. A computing system according to claim 15 wherein the order for said goods and/or services is at a pre-defmed price.