Two of the hospitality industry’s leading sales and marketing tools, Mr Yum and Me&u, have completed a merger, ending a four year rivalry between the companies.
The combined company, led by Mr Yum Co-Founder Kim Teo as the new Chief Executive, combines the identities of both brands and operates under the Me&u name with a new brand icon designed to represent togetherness.
Processing over $2bn combined in dining transactions each year, the merged business already works with over 6,000 brands and aims to elevate its platform by providing deeper and more flexible ordering capability including a staff app for upselling, proprietary CRM, email and SMS marketing tools, loyalty, guest feedback and more.
“It makes a lot of sense from a business point of view to stop butting heads and start working together,” says Teo. “But it makes even more sense from a customer perspective because we have the opportunity to build a best-of-the-best product that venues and their guests love.”
Me&u Founder Steven Premutico says that the idea for the collaboration was born in mid-2022 when he met Mr Yum Co-Founder Adrian Osman over a beer in Austin, USA.
“It was a bit like a first date. I walked out of that thinking he’s a good guy and we are fighting the same fight.
“At the end of a couple of beers I picked up the bill – so he owes me a round – I wrote a little note on the back of a receipt, as I gave it to him, and it said: ‘let’s make this industry better’.”
While the merged business doesn’t plan to make any significant changes this year, it is setting out to provide more value for customers with an integrated platform, 24/7 support coverage and product and engineering teams that now make up a larger percentage of the merged company.
“Now that the merger is complete and our teams have come together, we’re laser-focused on making sure this is a successful holiday season for our customers and that we look after them,” Teo said.