Are you unwiuttingly helping to kill off local places?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Ruggles on April 26, 2021 at 13:46

Seen reports that people are getting short dated products on store sorted deliveries

How can it be green, certainly not cheaper

Lucky for those that can afford such services

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Christopher Fowler on April 30, 2021 at 9:30

We have had to have all our groceries etc delivered over the last 14 months, as we are "high risk" and have to be very careful about going out. We have had deliveries from Sainsbury's and Iceland. It is very rare for any items to be "short dated". If I see any such items in a delivery, I reject them and the delivery person takes them back, and I receive credit. It is not that difficult, when you have a delivery, to check "use by" dates, on fresh goods. The assessment of how green this is needs to take into account a number of factors. As for cheaper: most grocery shops/supermarkets that deliver make no charge for deliveries above a certain minimum (Iceland's is £35). So there's no question of delivery services for groceries being only available to those who "can afford such services", as they are effectively free.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Christopher Fowler on April 30, 2021 at 9:23

If you have food delivered from local restaurants etc, whatever the means of delivery, then you are helping those local restaurants by increasing their sales. The major issues with delivery companies is how badly they pay their delivery people. The individual can help with this by tipping generously. If Deliveroo goes bust because it can't make a profit: well, there are plenty of other delivery companies with a better, more realistic business model.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rosamund Tomlins on April 30, 2021 at 9:36

I've wondered about this too. The whole point of delivered food for me is the same as grocery shopping - to get food BUT I will shop local to get what I need.

I've generally thought, "well I need the exercise so I'll just pop along to my local places & collect", just as with groceries, & with takeaways, if I order instore I can savour the smells of the cooking, & pop to the local minimarkets to get a few extra supplies so those shops also benefit a tiny bit, while my food is being cooked. It does mean I'm limited to a small no. of outlets, so I can get the food home before it goes cold, but there are enough menu options.

We have a bit of a problem with people finding our address, so even though I've thought about Deliveroo/Just Eat in terms of, "well it's providing employment to the drivers, but if it takes them a long time to find us then, as they might only get paid per delivery, they lose out with us". 

I've chosen to completely resist Deliveroo & Just Eat until evaluated opinion is revealed, such as this article shows, so thanks for referring to it, mainly because in the past even at friends' houses, with a food place just around the corner, it sometimes took a long time to receive delivered food; but at least the individual outlet could tell you if there was going to be a delay due to no. of orders in front - if they were going to lie then they risk you not ordering again. I have no idea whether or not that aspect has improved with these delivery platforms, but, as it seems the stories about their dark kitchens taking over are true, it's all leading to missing my the whole point as in my 2nd sentence.

Currently with the pandemic restrictions I've found it hard to wait in line at some more well known food outlets while driver after driver rocks up to collect huge bundles, effectively pushing the simple order such as mine way back into the queuing system without me knowing. In some places where you can see the food being cooked, I've thought "ooh that's my order there now", but it isn't - it goes into a massive package for delivery - & I actually feel I'm a bit of a nuisance as they finally fit me in around their bigger orders. 

Prior to the pandemic, & noticeably during the 'Eat Out to Help Out', some restaurants who had just signed up to the delivery companies hadn't altered their existing modes within their premises. There should be a suitable waiting area inside for all the drivers, but there often wasn't, so they'd queue up right beside the tables at which I & others were eating, jostling our shoulders, talking loudly among themselves, & generally being intrusive, so much so that I began to feel I was the intruder in the way, & that the eating-in business was getting in the way of the delivery aspect. I honestly thought "well at the busy rate that these deliveries are going out & counting the lower no. of people sitting at tables, there's no competition", & with what seemed like far longer waiting times than pre-delivery culture (I may be wrong there but it makes sense if the kitchen is having to cope with so many more orders) I'd be put off going to that restaurant again, thinking "well they don't need me & my friends anyway as they're quids-in with the more prominent delivery mode".

The article concludes with an interesting point to consider:

"But it is worth remembering that every reconfiguration of the way we live and the resources we rely on, including restaurants, meals and the people who produce and deliver them, involves a reconfiguration of power, creating winners and losers. Global investors are gambling billions on an app-driven, dark kitchen-dominated future, and it’s clear who will emerge triumphant if that future materialises."

I recall the outcry over the demise of 'the local pub' - the reason cited as being the smoking ban which to me was a major improvement as I wouldn't go into any BECAUSE of the smoking, & businesses needed to adjust or change completely; a lot of good ones did. 

I'm reluctant to diss any local business, but with the takeaway/mini-restaurant highlighted in the article, I feel standards have plummeted. This must be connected with having to raise the prices to accommodate the Deliveroo fees. In the past I only knew about the nearby Seven Sisters Road outlet & thought it great, the food amazing! I'd pass that quite often & choose to go there over a slightly nearer to my house place. It's clearly connected by name to the West Green Rd one, which is these days the one I pass by most often, & the most convenient one of it's type, but recently their meat is fatty - the minced option so full of fat that as I've seen it going to the grill I've thought "what the heck is that, that's surely not my Adana is it?" but it is, & then I get a mouthful of tiny bone bits! (I never opt for the standard stuff on the revolving spit). The chips are woefully substandard compared to how they used to be, & to what can be obtained elsewhere, so frankly I don't go there any more. It's a false economy they've decided upon, & look what's likely to have driven them to it!

• ▶ Reply