‘A busy but amazing three months’ – taste of success for food app
Sunderland Eats founder Jonathan Jopling has revealed how the first three months of the new food delivery app have gone.
The offshore worker, from Fulwell, started the process with his business partners to create the app last year – with it going live to members of the public on April 12.
Offering a more competitive rate than takeaway giant JustEat, Sunderland Eats has managed to gain traction on social media as over 100 local businesses such as takeaways, delis, and sweet shops have signed up to the app.
Jonathan moved to Sunderland from Peterlee about 12 years ago and has worked in the offshore industry for a decade. He has told the Echo how the first three months have gone and revealed how successful it has been so far.
The 31-year-old said: “The app launched on April 12 and it has been a very busy, but amazing three months, it has definitely gone better than I expected.
"We’ve now got over 100 businesses on the app and now people are actually contacting us wanting to get involved, I think at the moment we are adding about five new businesses a week.
"When we started, I thought we’d be hounding people to join, but it is actually the opposite and we’re getting loads of great feedback from those businesses who have joined us.”
Competing with the likes of JustEat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo, the app has managed
to secure its own exclusives such as Borneo Bistro on Hylton Road, Kets N Pop in Roker
and BURGeR on Frederick Street.
Sunderland Eats has even teamed up with local competitive eater ‘Kyle v Food’ to host challenges and has had the opportunity to give back to local causes.
Jonathan added: “The success so far has meant that we have been able to sponsor Farringdon Detached Football Club, provide meals for various care homes and even donate to Sunderland Foodbank.
"It’s great that we’ve now got some exclusive businesses on our app, obviously JustEat is still dominant, but I feel like we are starting to make an impact.
"Some businesses are even telling us that they are now switching off JustEat and using us more.”
You can find out more visiting the Sunderland Eats Facebook page or Instagram.