Who’s Paying for the Great Delivery Wars?
It’s probably not Uber Eats, Postmates, or Grubhub
2020 was an undeniably big year for food delivery. As the pandemic limited access to restaurants and the government dragged — and continues to drag — on providing financial support for small businesses, consumers were given few options outside of takeout and delivery to eat a meal that they didn’t cook themselves. Not only was it convenient, it was also an ethical imperative: If you wanted to see your favorite restaurant survive, you needed to order out.
Benefitting the most from this disruption to an already broken food supply chain are third-party delivery apps, such as UberEats, Grubhub, and DoorDash. The apps offer infrastructure to tackle delivery, while simultaneously employing suspect practices like charging exorbitant fees to the restaurants that use the services. As we enter a new year, pushback against delivery apps and predatory practices is growing — in courtrooms, … Read more