Ochre drives a plan to keep its diners well fed
CAIRNS restaurant Ochre has launched a delivery service to counter the coronavirus shutdown of social gatherings.
“We will be using the catering van for deliveries,” chef and owner Craig Squire said.
The van would sit idle given the wave of function cancellations that have rocked the waterfront establishment.
“We aren’t going to give Uber Eats the commission for delivery,” Mr Squire said.
“The main reason we are launching the service is to retain staff.”
He said the delivery service would be free for every order over $72 and would be available in an area bordered by Woree, Earlville, Freshwater/ Redlynch and Holloways Beach.
The home dining menu makes a point of picking a bone with delivery service Uber Eats.
“We will be delivering ourselves so Uber Eats doesn’t get their outrageous 35 per cent commission. This means we can discount our home delivery menu to help you and us more,” the menu states.
The service allows those social distancing or self isolating to enjoy Ochre’s brand of fine dining and still support the local economy.
“The main message for the people of Cairns is to be sensible but don’t lock themselves away. Support a locally-owned business and produce.
“We have to keep it circular in our economy. People should make a strong decision to support local.”
He said local patronage was essential for the survival of Cairns businesses.
“The big hotels will get through it.”
Mr Squire has made no secret of how he feels about Uber
Eats. “A 35 per cent commission is not really a great idea,” he said.
“It’s great for the punter, but it’s not good for the restaurants to lose 35 per cent.
“What Uber Eats is doing is no favours to the industry at all. It’s actually very damaging to the restaurant trade.
“When started, we were involved, one of the poster boy restaurants at beginning.
“After about 12 months we pulled the pin on Uber Eats, mainly because of the delivery issues.
“We were able to track the deliveries and sometimes a delivery from here to Edge Hill, for example, was taking 45 minutes and that driver was doing one or two taxi trips or ride sharing on the way, so the problem in Cairns they're using the Uber drivers – the ride sharing – to do the food deliveries. So they’re not going direct … we ditched it pretty quickly.”
An Uber spokesman said the company had no record of complaints by Mr Squire regarding the drivers, and that he had refused a phone call follow up by the company.