DELIVERY SERVICE FOCUSES ON LOCAL RESTAURANTS
A new business is offering people the opportunity to get their food delivered by a local option instead of DoorDash.
USVetsDeliver is offering delivery service from local restaurants to people within the Eureka, Arcata and McKinleyville area for a 15% delivery fee, with a $10 minimum, paid by the purchaser rather than the restau
rant. Jim Richards, owner of USVetsDelivery, said he’s looking for one or two people to deliver in the Fortuna-Ferndale area so that should be available in the near future.
“We deliver for local restaurants,” Richards said. “We don’t do fast food because DoorDash is best fit for that.”
People who want to order from USVetsDeliver would need to text its dispatcher, 707-2989595, to check driver availability, after which they would place their order with the restaurant of their choice. Once that’s done,
people would need to text the dispatch number the name and location of the restaurant, the total cost of the food, their name and delivery address, and the time the order will be ready.
Drivers can take cash or card payments, Richards said, and customers can either pay with the restaurant in advance or pay the driver afterward.
In addition to advertising directly to customers, Richards said he’s also partnering with exclusively local restaurants, such as the Sea Grill, Salt Fish House and Campground.
“Our main focus is probably the higher end restaurants because we have a $10 minimum delivery free,” Richards said. “That’s not optimal for every person and every order.”
The Sea Grill recently began delivering food to customers, and Sea Grill bar manager Daisy York said USVetsDeliver has helped the restaurant reach customers who don’t want to leave home.
“I think it’s excellent,” York said. “We just give them a call let them know what time I need
them to pick up the food. They’re always on time, always masked and they use appropriate equipment to handle takeout food.”
USVetsDeliver has also gained traction on the Humboldt Foodies Facebook page and was mentioned in another post by Six Rivers Brewery.
“It doesn’t cost (our restaurant) anything,” said Meredith Maier, co- owner of Six Rivers Brewery in McKineyville. “It’s local and it’s about the same to the consumer, so it’s a winwin.”
Earlier on in the coronavirus pandemic, Maier said she looked into working with DoorDash but decided against it.
“DoorDash charges us anywhere between 20 and 30% for deliveries and there are some start-up fees as well. It’s definitely an investment,” Maier said.
DoorDash spokesperson Campbell Matthews could not confirm the standard delivery fees imposed on restaurants and instead directed the Times-Standard to its blog. “Depending on the service the restaurant selects on the basis of their business needs, restaurants pay DoorDash a recurring monthly fee for software to accept online orders, a flat fee per order, or a percentage of the order total (known as a “commission”).”
According to DoorDash, drivers average “more than $22 per active hour nationally including tips.”
Richards, who has been delivering for DoorDash through the pandemic, said his base pay for a delivery could be as low as $3 and about 60% of the income he was getting was from tips.
Richards started delivering food for DoorDash when the initial iteration of USVetsDeliver that he started in May as a grocery delivery service didn’t work out as he expected, he said. But Richards said he realized there was an opportunity in that space for him when he saw restaurants didn’t want to pay Doordash’s high fees.
“I realized there was this whole large sector of restaurants that weren’t being served,” Richards said, “and they were the best restaurants, because they didn’t want to go with DoorDash.”
For more information, visit USVetsDeliver.com.