What Are Food Manufacturers Doing About Delivery Services

[Updated, March 1st, 2020] The food delivery trend has exploded over the last several years and information technology shows no signs of slowing down. Although there are ever food delivery risks to consider, foodservice takeout and commitment may prove to have tremendous potential to maintain and grow profits when foot traffic is low. Even restaurants who never thought that they would exist doing delivery accept had to at least consider calculation this service at present more than e'er.

But getting started with food delivery for your restaurant isn't just as simple every bit taking orders and driving them to people'south houses. Many of the choices yous need to make come with risks that need to be mitigated. How y'all address these risks can make a huge deviation on how assisting your takeout and commitment services volition exist. And so permit's bound right into it and explore the biggest food delivery risks.

ane. Customer Privacy & Information

Back in the not-so-olden days, customers simply chosen upwards your eating house to club. Their gild was then delivered by a driver employed by the restaurant. Maybe they provided a credit card over the telephone. Possibly they paid in cash at the door. Just times accept changed. Now customers order on their cellphones and through nutrient commitment apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash. Sensitive data, including credit menu numbers, is transmitted and frequently stored, oft across multiple networks and systems.

Hardly a twenty-four hour period passes when we don't read about another data breach or other hacking incident. And in the restaurant industry, too often we run into what nosotros like to telephone call "nephew-built" websites (i.e. "My nephew tin build your website over the weekend real cheap!") especially for smaller restaurants. Computer and internet security can exist challenging even for experienced businesses. If your website gets hacked and exposes client data, customers could lose trust in your brand for a fourth dimension.

Bring on the Lawsuits

And it is only going to become more challenging for business owners. California lawmakers recently passed the California Consumer Privacy Human action (or CCPA for short). This new constabulary covers restaurants and the data they potentially collect from their customers. Failure to comply with the constabulary's standards can open up a business organisation to hefty fines and potential lawsuits.

Many experts recommend cyber-security insurance equally a protection against unforeseen events. However, this blazon of insurance can be plush for many small business concern owners.

The risks involved with a "do-information technology-yourself" website that manages delivery orders and takes payments take pushed many smaller restaurants to partner with delivery services such every bit Uber Eats, Amazon Restaurants, Postmates and others. But just because a third party handles much or the heavy lifting, the restaurant owner can all the same be liable if they do not maintain good practices around handling of customer data.

The bottom line is, don't become complacent with your customer's sensitive information. Ask questions to exist certain the gatekeepers of your customer's information are taking every precaution to go on information technology condom. Even if you are only touching base with them every month to ask how things are going.

ii. Food Safe

Food safety should exist a concern for every eatery, whether they deliver or non. Just it becomes specially important for delivery because of the additional risks. Beginning and foremost, restaurants should exist concerned about maintaining the correct hot and cold holding temperatures of the food they are delivering. How long has that potato salad sat out? How long will it sit down in a hot motorcar?

Fifty-fifty if you are using a tertiary political party delivery service, you need to be enlightened of how your delivery orders will be held in your store until they are picked up by a driver. Do you have the right equipment similar a hot food holding cabinet?

Depending on the types of food you are delivering, you can't simply exit the orders on the counter and expect that everything will be fine.

And then there is the delivery process itself. How is your food being transported? Is it only sitting on the passenger seat of your delivery person's car? Or do you have the appropriate delivery bags or boxes for your drivers? If y'all utilize a third party delivery service, what types of delivery accessories do they require their drivers to have?

These are important questions and considerations. Just as nosotros see news of data breaches, we have seen a ascent in foodborne illnesses that stem from restaurants (recall: Chipotle). You lot definitely don't want to be the source of one of these events. A little care alee of fourth dimension can salve a whole lot of headaches (and stomach aches) later.

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3. Tampering

This could easily fall under the "Food Safety" heading as well, but it comes with some unique challenges that get in worthy of its own section.

How many of yous can order takeout from your favorite fast nutrient restaurant and NOT sneak a french fry or two on the fashion home in the automobile? The odour is hard to resist. I'm ask guilty as anyone in this regard. And delivery drivers are not allowed to the lure of delicious bites.

And how would you lot know if your delivery driver snagged a few fries or had a sip of your drink on the way to your firm? The answer is: you probably wouldn't. And that's where the trouble lies.

A delivery driver helps himself to your fries. — A commitment driver helps himself to your fries.

Every bit delivery has exploded, at that place take been many innovations into what is called "tamper evident packaging." This doesn't mean "tamper proof." The idea isn't to brand commitment containers into fiddling puzzle boxes or portable safes. It is just some other layer of protection for the business and the customer. Take out bags tin can exist sealed with an adhesive that will tear the handbag if removed. Carryout containers tin can take plastic seals that have to be broken to remove the food and cannot be replaced or resealed once broken.

The idea is simply to inform the client that their club was tampered with before it arrived at their door. This can exist as elementary as stapling a bag shut. The foodservice disposables manufacture is rapidly innovating products to address these concerns. If your concern does a lot of delivery, information technology may be worth your time to explore these options.

4. Food Quality

Your food is your product as a restaurant. And your reputation is built on how adept your product is. The question becomes how well does your product travel? Lots of foods are meant to exist served immediately upon being cooked. How does your food fare when it'due south been cooked, sits on the counter or in a holder awaiting the delivery commuter then sitting in the car in a commitment pocketbook or box (or not)? Are the crispy things nonetheless crispy? Are the vegetables wilted? Exercise you lot have hot and common cold ingredients side by side in the same container?

In a recent study, Off-Premise Insights looked at client feelings nigh takeout, delivery and catering. They plant that food quality was the near important driver of satisfaction with nutrient commitment.

Food quality may be 1 of the most challenging bug for the industry to solve. There are then many factors to consider, many of which are across the control of the restaurant operator. Even with that in mind, the same study tells the states:

"But who gets the blame if there is a problem with the food delivery? According to the study, 82% of consumers will blame the restaurant, not the delivery service."

So information technology is your restaurant'due south reputation on the line, even if it'southward non strictly your error. This can lead to bad reviews and poor customer retentiveness. And bad reviews tin lead to decreased new client conquering. It becomes a cruel cycle.

Solutions are being developed

Lamb Weston's specially formulated delivery fries in their vented container. — *Lamb Weston's particularly formulated delivery fries in their vented container.*

The proficient news is that the industry is actively attacking these problems from a number of angles. For example, Lamb Weston, a supplier of frozen potato products to the restaurant industry is taking aim at soggy commitment french fries. Their approach is twofold: the product itself and the delivery container.

Lamb Weston has created a french fry specifically designed for delivery. The visitor claims that its even-batter coated chips offer extended property times while retaining crispness.

They also realize that the chief enemy of crispness is moisture that accumulates within a closed container. To prevent this, they offer their own vented fry container to prevent the moisture build upwards that tin can make fries soggy.

Other disposables manufacturers are jumping on this trend as they engineer new solutions to accost the challenges of delivery.

As a restaurant owner, y'all may take to brand adjustments to your menu or food preparation to account for delivery as well as looking at newer, innovative containers specifically designed for commitment.

five. Delivery Driver Issues

This section could be an unabridged article by itself. But we will try to intermission it down for you. The terminal mile of your commitment service is in the hands of the person who drives the food to your customer. And a lot tin happen betwixt your restaurant and the customer's location.

Automobiles Come up with Risks

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, transportation incidents are the cause for the vast majority of on the chore fatalities. Since, past definition, delivery drivers spend much of their time behind the wheel, the risk is especially salient for this chore category.

But it's not just the driver who may exist at chance here. If y'all have a delivery driver using their ain vehicle and they hurt another commuter or damage property, your business organisation may be liable. And the settlement for that liability can be substantial.

At the very least, information technology is imperative that you speak with a professional person about your insurance needs. Your insurance requirements will vary based on the state in which you lot are doing business too as the specifics of that business organisation itself. In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth way more than the pound of cure.

Crime

Unfortunately, beingness a delivery driver is a risky occupation. In fact, delivering pizza is one of the almost dangerous jobs in the Usa. It's an unfortunate fact of life that delivery drivers brand attractive targets for thieves. Delivery drivers are believed to carry decent amounts of cash and are most often on their own, making them easy targets.

In London, mopeds and scooters have go popular vehicles for food delivery. The modest form factor and ease of navigation make them ideal for negotiating the increasingly traffic-clogged streets of one of the world's busiest cities. Merely thieves have begun targeting these delivery people specifically for their transportation. According to a BBC investigation, commitment drivers are being robbed of their mopeds and scooters by thieves who so use those vehicles to commit other crimes. The thieves and so dump the stolen bikes, essentially treating them as dispensable getaway vehicles.

There are some ways to mitigate offense targeted at delivery drivers. For example, your concern may need to make a policy that drivers must make frequent deposits to limit the amount of cash they comport. Similarly, yous may need to limit the number of deliveries done in a unmarried run, again to go along the corporeality of greenbacks on hand to a minimum.

As online delivery services move away from greenbacks on delivery payment methods, we may come across some relief in targeting commitment drivers. But tips are still often given in cash and the drivers are such an bonny target for thieves that this will still be a concern worth noting for the foreseeable future.

Injury

In add-on to offense, delivery drivers face the run a risk of injury. In the winter, they face slippery sidewalks. They traverse poorly lit streets and driveways. Slip and fall accidents are all too common. And again, your business may be liable for some or all of the damages.

Unfortunately, in that location isn't a whole lot that tin can exist done to mitigate these risks. Having the appropriate insurance is a good start step. But you should likewise look into training your drivers to exist enlightened of the risks besides.

Wage & Labor Issues

You may be tempted to treat delivery drivers equally contract employees every bit it does take the potential to salve substantial money for the employer. Afterward all, y'all've heard nearly the "gig economy" and that all seems to be a hit with the kids, right? Not and then fast.

Classifying delivery drivers as independent contractors to salve money could expose you to meaning wage and hour liability risks. Recent reports show that these types of lawsuits are on the rise as well.

Again, consultation with a lawyer and/or insurance professional can become a long way to reducing your exposure to these thorny issues.

Delivering the Bottom Line on Nutrient Commitment Risks

Food delivery is non going away. And most indications bear witness that information technology is merely going to grow every bit an important segment of the restaurant industry. That is why it is and then of import for restaurant business owners to fully understand the risks involved with food delivery. Only past agreement the food delivery risks can y'all take proactive steps to avoid problems down the road.