Square showed its interest in the food business Monday, announcing its purchase of Caviar, an online-ordering startup for delivering food.
Rumors surfaced last month about the deal, which is speculated to help the mobile payments company improve its earnings, according to CNET. No details about the acquisition have been revealed yet, but the New York Times has speculated its price to be $90 million.
The agreement will have Caviar continue to operate as its own service. Square said the purchase helps it add on to its merchant services, several of which it has tried out in the past, such as using its Square Capital program to lend money to merchants.
"Caviar's curated, seamless delivery experience is exactly the kind of service we want to provide buyers and sellers," said Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square. "By making delivery such a fast, friendly, and easy process, Caviar gives time back to restaurants so they can focus on what they do best- cooking great food for their customers."
Having launched in San Francisco last year, Caviar has been letting customers order from New York's Momofuku, San Francisco's Ike's Place, and other popular restaurants that don't usually have the option of delivery. The startup is currently available in New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Seattle, and it is looking to make its service available in other states soon, Business Insider reported.
"We look for the best restaurants in the city that have great food," said John Keh, partner of Caviar. "Our restaurant partners do not have to be the fanciest in town, but if they make some of the best dishes in their category, we partner with them."
Caviar also has a professional photographer take images of food from its restaurant partners for the online menu.
"A picture of the food lets you quickly determine if the dish is appealing to you," Keh said. "As the saying goes, we eat with our eyes."
Jason Wang, CEO of Caviar, said his company will make great use of Square's resource to increase its business, CNET reported. Square's register service is being used by over 50,000 restaurants.
Square now joins other payment companies that have gotten involved in the food business, such as PayPal, which released an integration with delivery service Eat24 last year that lets customers use its mobile app to make orders and payments.
