Trio expanding delivery service
WHEN restaurant delivery service Delivereasy launches in Dunedin in a few weeks, there will be a sense of a homecoming for its three founders.
Blair Kippenberger , a former Cromwell College head boy and Otago Daily Times Class Act recipient in 2007, Nick Foster, and Tim Robinson are all University of Otago alumni.
While they no longer lived in Dunedin, they were excited about expanding into the city, Mr Foster said.
The uptake from restaurant owners had been ‘‘really good’’, with about 15 restaurants signed up already. That number was expected to grow prior to the launch. He believed Dunedin was ‘‘ready for the service’’.
All three, in their own right, wanted to work for themselves and the idea of Delivereasy came about through the need in New Zealand for such a service, which was popular overseas, he said.
Mr Robinson was a software developer while Mr Kippen berger and Mr Foster had marketing and sales backgrounds and their skills complemented each other.
They launched the service in Wellington in May, 2016 and now employed about 180 drivers nationwide and partnered with more than 200 restaurants across Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington and Lower Hutt.
The five restaurants they started with in Wellington were all still with Delivereasy.
Mr Foster, who graduated in 2011, described Dunedin as a ‘‘very special’’ place.
‘‘It’s pretty awesome. I haven’t really been back since graduation,’’ he said.
He quipped it was nice to see the sun shining this week as a lot of his student memories were of ‘‘colder times’’ and he was impressed with the vibe in the city, along with the number of new restaurants.
With nearly two years’ experience under their belt, they were prepared for their latest launch.
Mr Foster acknowledged establishing the business had been a massive learning curve. There was competition, mainly in the North Island, but that was healthy.
New Zealand was a smaller market than some international destinations, but that suited the Delivereasy team and how they ran the business which was a very lean model.
Their emphasis was on maintaining a culture that was relaxed and where people had fun. A happy workplace created a better experience, he said.
Drivers tended to use scooters, motorbikes and smaller cars — the majority were on scooters and motorbikes for ease of work, such as parking, and were cheaper to run, easy to access and better for the environment.
Their drivers included older secondary school pupils and tertiary students. He expected the majority in Dunedin would be tertiary students, although they were aware of the need for a mix given tertiary holidays.
Customers enjoyed being able to have their favourite dishes from their favourite restaurants delivered to the door.
‘‘We pride ourselves on offering the best possible service . . . delivering with a smile and creating a good experience.
‘‘We’re not making the food; it’s the restaurants you already know and love. We’re just literally bringing it to you.
‘‘Everyone’s got a favourite dish from a favourite restaurant. All we’re doing is making it available when you don’t want to go out in the rain and the cold.’’
Their customers came from a few demographics; in Welling ton, it tended to be students and young professionals.
A big part of their market was young families who had double incomes, were timepoor and wanted to eat well. Delivereasy had some customers who ordered most nights.
Mr Foster was pleased they had not started the business straight out of university, as he believed they might have been too naive.
They were often dealing with very experienced restaurant owners, a lot of whom were stressed, and who knew how to run a business. They wanted to be associated with a brand that knew what it was doing.
After launching in Dunedin, there would be other centres where Delivereasy would start up but the focus at the moment was on ‘‘nailing’’ the southern city and getting it up and running.
‘‘Making sure everything is in place so it does well and then on to the next place. We’re planning on sticking around for a long, long time.’’
It was very fortunate that the Delivereasy founders all got on so well together.
‘‘A lot of startup [businesses], from my understanding, fail because of personnel, not because of the product or a market not there.’’
Having three was also beneficial as there was always a majority vote on what to do next. There had been ‘‘a little bit of luck’’ along the way but most of their success was due to hard work, he said.