Deliveroo, JustEat and UberEats have dominated the ‘ready to eat’ food delivery market in recent years and have all seen a huge boost in sales during lockdown. However, one Deliveroo driver from Bristol has set up his own delivery app and is determined to make his service better and fairer for the customer.
Joseph Nunes, who is 45 and lives in the Horfield area of Bristol, has worked for Deliveroo for three years and saw first hand the problems with the delivery system. In 2019, he decided to go public about the pay cuts being suffered by the riders and in June 2020, launched his own rival app called ‘Delivery Lads’.
Delivery Lads covers the whole of the Bristol area and aims to be much cheaper than Deliveroo. ‘Customers click, we collect’ Nunes said ‘We don’t have a selling platform like Deliveroo. We only provide delivery,’ said Nunes, who comes from Brazil and has lived in Bristol for 15 years.
Deliveroo adds a 20% surcharge on their service, so a £50 meal, will cost the customer £60. However, restaurants offer a discount for click and collect orders, so in actual fact, the food only costs £40. Delivery Lads just charge the delivery fee on top, which is calculated by distance, offering value for the customer.
Drivers
Joseph is also paying his drivers a minimum delivery charge of £4, in comparison with Deliveroo’s £3.15, so this works out better for the driver. Joseph himself takes on deliveries, saying ‘I am one of the Delivery Lad riders. I still ride for Deliveroo and JustEat, especially during the daytime when Delivery Lads doesn’t have as many clients’. However, he hopes to soon be working just for himself.
Joseph started planning his business before he went public with his feelings on Deliveroo. He invested in the business before Coronavirus and has made it clear that his business didn’t set out to make money from the pandemic. ‘I have had this idea a long time. I always wanted to do something for myself. Most other people saw this pandemic and saw an opportunity to do deliveries, I was planning to leave Deliveroo anyway’.
In reality, he believes the pandemic hasn’t helped his business, because when the roads are quiet, people feel more inclined to collect food themselves, whereas when the roads are busy with traffic, it is then they want their food collected and delivered to them.
Competitors
Delivery Lads is just one of a number of food delivery app services recently launched. Croydon Eats in London, offers a similar service and is also looking to rival competitors such as Deliveroo and UberEats. Launched in March this year, Croydon Eats charges its customers just 50p, to use its services which lets users order directly via the app and either have their food delivered by a driver, or collect the order themselves, saving on the delivery charge.
Delivery Lads doesn’t just deliver food. They also serve the people of Bristol by offering a full delivery service of everything from prescriptions, car parts and other items. Customers simply send the details and Delivery Lads collect and deliver.
