A new food ordering and delivery platform, EatLocalNZ, has been launched to empower Kiwis to unite and support their local restaurants, cafes and provide money to those losing income due to Covid-19.
“Prior to Covid-19 I’d been starting to hear how overseas food delivery platforms were charging local cafes and restaurants up to 35 percent on every order. I thought that was shocking and felt guilty about using them myself,” said CEO & founder Tim McLeod.
“When Covid-19 hit I was walking my local streets past closed venue after closed venue, thinking how can they survive if their best option is a platform charging 35 per cent?”
“We came up with EatLocalNZ to empower venues and put more money into the pockets of the restaurants by keeping our fee as low as five per cent. It’s more important now than ever that we do all we can to support our local cafes and restaurants with one in three at real risk of not surviving until the end of the year.”
It’s not just restaurants and cafes that EatLocalNZ is hoping to help. They are mobilising a network of everyday Kiwi’s to be what they’re calling Local Legends.
Local Legends are typically people that have recently lost their jobs, or who’ve seen a reduction in their income due to the impact of COVID.
“I’ve got close friends and family who are losing jobs, or are uncertain about the future. There are thousands of similar people across New Zealand. So rather than spending huge amounts on marketing, we want to spread the word by giving those people a way to keep the bills paid whilst supporting their local venues,” explained McLeod.
Anyone can sign up to become a Local Legend. EatLocalNZ will give them all the training, tools and support they need to tell their local cafes and venues about EatlLocalNZ and help them to get setup.
When they signup a favourite local restaurant or café EatLocalNZ will give them half of the net fee it earns for that venue. If they don’t need the money they can choose to give it back to the establishment they have put forward. The goal is to spread the love.
EatLocalNZ will be available for contactless deliveries and pickups from midnight Monday 23 April 2020.
“We are closely following Ministry of Health guidelines and can achieve both without any human contact,” McLeod noted.
Once at Level 2, restaurants and cafes can also use EatLocalNZ for a contactless dine in experience; which includes automated contact tracing. Customers can easily order and pay from their smart phone for food to be brought to their table; no touching menus, or payment terminals.
“We’ve already got over 120 venues signed up, and over 13,000 customers, in the few days since we launched. Now is the time to get your favourite local venues onboard.”
If you’d like to be a Local Legend, or are a venue owner, you can sign up now via eatlocalnz.com
