Sydney restaurants turn against food delivery apps
More than half of cafes and restaurants in Sydney have experienced a drop in profit from using online food delivery platforms, according to a new report.
The Restaurant and Catering 2019 Benchmarking Report found that 55 per cent of cafes and restaurants have experienced a drop in profit from using online food delivery platforms despite the increase in new business they generate.
“Delivery is here to stay, Australian diners love delivery,” Restaurant and Catering Australia CEO Wes Lambert told the Daily Telegraph.
“However, if it leads to the closure of many restaurants then nobody wins.
“You’re only seeing restaurants within 4km of your location on these delivery apps, so why aren’t diners walking there themselves? This is their community, their local restaurant base.
“Restaurants were designed and built for bums on seats.”
Despite this, the number of businesses using an online delivery platform has increased 20 per cent on the previous year, up to more than 53 per cent.
A third said they felt pressured to sign up to the platforms because competitors were using them while more than 63 per cent said they did it to increase their customer base.
Bar Italia in Leichhardt has dropped UberEats due to contractual changes. Owner Con Damouras told the Daily Telegraph the contracts are “just cutthroat.”
“Just last night a customer sent me a photo of her pizza when it arrived and it looked like it had been tipped upside down, it was terrible,” he said
“Before, UberEats would compensate that customer because the pizza did not leave our restaurant looking like that. But the new contract would change that and make us liable, when we already pay a 30 per cent commission.”
Sheridan Randall, 19th November 2019
