Deliveries shake up dining scene
The revolution online shopping brought to retail has now landed for the restaurant world, as options for topquality cuisine delivered to your door take a big step forward with the arrival of Give Me Bread.
The app-based delivery service has been growing fast since launching in Christchurch late last year and expects to soon have menus from more than 100 local restaurants.
Currently, 50 restaurants are offering cuisine from across the globe, including Mexican, Thai, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Afghan, Persian, Vietnamese and British, as well as classic cafe fare.
Give Me Bread marketing manager Chandni Jain says it has been a whirlwind few months for the company, driven by a low-fee scheme for restaurants and a firstrate delivery model.
Restaurants pay nothing to join and commissions in many cases are half those of delivery rival UberEats. These lower costs translate into lower prices for customers, Jain says.
A colourful array of menus are available for browsing on the app, with customers able to leave notes for chefs on specific dishes and track delivery in real time using GPS. Deliveries cost $7.99 within eight kilometres of the chosen restaurant and take an average of 25-40 minutes.
‘‘Customers are always complimenting us on the quick service and we’ve been getting a lot of five-star reviews on Facebook,’’ Jain says. ‘‘We use special insulated bags so food is kept fresh and hot or cold for hours.’’
The app regularly features special offers and this week Give Me Bread will start its own loyalty programme, the Bread Burpsters Club. Members receive one ‘‘burp’’ for every $20 spent. These can then be used to access exclusive discounts.
Jain says many of the restaurants signed up to Give Me Bread are leaders in their field.
Papanui’s The China Kitchen, for instance, produces some of the city’s finest dumplings and has wide-ranging menus of authentic Chinese cuisine honed over 17 years in Christchurch.
Indian Sumner (CBD), meanwhile, is often described as the funkiest Indian restaurant in town, offering contemporary curries, seafood dishes and moreish appetisers perfected for Kiwi tastes.
Give Me Bread’s rise comes amid a wider trend heralding a new era of culinary discovery. By making it possible to enjoy outstanding foods in the privacy and comfort of one’s own home, the service blows open the scope of the traditional dining experience.
Date nights can be reinvented, parties can serve divine dishes while being as raucous as they want, and when the idea of cooking or heading out is just too much, a world of variety is only a swipe away.
Watch this space, Jain says, because options are only heating up.
❚ Give Me Bread is free to download from Google Play Store and iTunes. For details, find them on Facebook or visit givemebread.co.nz.