Before Aaron Hoffman was helping restaurants scale delivery, he was a college sophomore planning to become a doctor.
His co-founder, John Zinno, was on a different path too. was on a different path too. One wanted medicine. The other wanted engineering. Neither was trying to build a national logistics company. They were two college students on a cold day, looking at a problem hiding in plain sight.
On the first cold day of the school year at Ohio University, the two friends asked a simple question: why couldn’t students get anything delivered to campus?
The Tweet
So they posted one tweet.
There was no polished launch plan. No venture capital. No fancy app.
They offered to deliver anything students wanted. A university executive reshared it. The post spread fast. Within days, they had thousands of followers, students asking how to order, and a business forming in real time.
Hoffman put his personal phone number on the internet and told people to text orders directly. That was the beginning.
The $3 Delivery
The first delivery was a Chipotle order. They had no car, so they used a bike. They rode up a steep hill, picked up the food, and charged three dollars for delivery. It was scrappy, imperfect, and exactly how many real businesses begin: with momentum before certainty.
Instead of staying a campus delivery side hustle, that early idea evolved into DeliverThat, a company now supporting restaurants nationwide.
Owning Delivery Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage
Hoffman believes too many restaurants gave away one of their most valuable customer relationships: delivery.
When off-premise demand exploded during the pandemic, many operators needed fast solutions. Third-party marketplaces filled the gap. But speed came with tradeoffs. Customer data moved elsewhere. Fees grew. Brand experience became harder to control.
DeliverThat was built around a different idea: restaurants should own the guest relationship whenever possible.
Today, the company provides delivery management tools, fulfillment infrastructure, and access to a nationwide network of contracted drivers. Instead of forcing operators into one model, restaurants can choose how they want delivery to work for their business. That flexibility matters.
Some brands want to protect margins. Others prioritize speed, quality, or brand presentation. Many need all three. DeliverThat helps restaurants balance those decisions instead of surrendering them.
For operators, delivery is no longer just a convenience channel. It is part of the guest experience, part of the revenue model, and part of the brand.
Catering Raises the Stakes
Not all deliveries are equal. Hoffman described catering as one of the most valuable transactions in restaurants. Large ticket sizes, repeat customers, and opportunities to introduce a brand to dozens of new guests make it a growth engine when executed well.
But catering also magnifies every mistake.
Food has to be ready on time. Packaging has to travel well. Drivers need clear instructions. Setup matters. Professionalism matters. The person handing off the order may be the only face-to-face interaction the customer has with the brand.
That is why DeliverThat places so much emphasis on fulfillment quality. For multi-unit operators trying to grow catering, reliability is not a bonus feature. It is the product.
Toast Integration
One of the biggest updates for operators already using Toast is DeliverThat’s direct integration with the platform. For restaurants in the Toast ecosystem, adding DeliverThat as a delivery option becomes significantly easier. Operators can configure delivery inside systems they already use rather than layering on disconnected tools.
That kind of simplicity matters more than it sounds. Restaurants do not need more tabs, more logins, or more complexity. They need connected systems that help teams move faster during busy shifts.
The partnership also reflects a larger shift happening across restaurant technology. Operators increasingly want best-in-class tools that work together, not bloated systems that do everything halfway.
Digital Hospitality Means Control
The DeliverThat story is bigger than delivery logistics. It is about seeing friction early, solving it simply, and growing with the customer in mind. From a viral college tweet to a national platform serving restaurant brands, Hoffman’s journey is a reminder that some of the best businesses begin with a small inconvenience and a willingness to act quickly.
For restaurants, the lesson is just as clear. Own the relationship. Protect the experience. Use technology that creates control instead of complexity.
That is digital hospitality in motion.
National Restaurant Show 2026
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