Square bolsters Caviar food delivery service with Fastbite buy

Over the last year, San Francisco-based payments company Square has worked steadily to diversify its portfolio of services and create more streams of revenue.

Much of the diversification has honed in on the needs of small business merchants, but the rollout of a new product and a fresh acquisition suggests Square is looking to up its appeal specifically to restaurateurs.

Square announced Wednesday the launch of Caviar Fastbite, an upscale food delivery service that promises to bring tasty, curated dishes to hungry San Franciscans in as little as 10 minutes.

The service is the combined result of two acquisitions: Caviar, the food delivery service Square purchased last summer; and Fastbite, a similar food delivery service focused on speedy delivery times and affordable meals.

Although it's unclear exactly when Square purchased Fastbite, it appears to have occurred somewhat recently. Fastbite posted a notice on its website today confirming its jump to Square, while at the same time Square announced the launch of Caviar Fastbite.

At any rate, Square's push into food delivery may seem odd on the surface, but it's indicative of the company's overall strategy. Square has come a long way since launching its signature payment dongle, rolling out its Register software and a slew of services that connect to it. The company has also recently expanded into email marketing and customer management.

But while the majority of Square's features target SMBs in a general sense, Caviar Fastbite, along with the recent launch of an open tabs feature, is geared solely toward restaurant owners, and could help bring more restaurants to the Square platform.

From a restaurant owner's perspective, the option to add a food delivery service to other Square offerings, such as payments, analytics, newsletters, email marketing, invoicing and gift cards, could be just enough to woo them on board.