Deliveroo allots £1m to introduce consultancy service, delivery-only brands
The delivery giant is responding to growing demand for healthier food.
Deliveroo announced it is set to invest £1million to introduce its new consultancy services to partner restaurants and new delivery-only brands offering healthy food items.
The investment plan is inspired by the delivery giant’s internal findings which revealed that the number of healthy orders on their platform has risen by 181% since 2017, with almost seven in ten people (69%) wanting to see an increase of healthy options on food delivery apps.
The demand for healthy foods is seen mostly amongst young people, with nine in ten people aged 18-24 saying they would purchase food for delivery more regularly if there’s a wider selection of nutritious meals.
Moreover, the number of orders for vegan dishes has climbed 330% since 2018, with Wagamama’s “Vegatsu” the most ordered last year.
“Deliveroo’s approach is simple[:] We want to increase the choice of delicious, healthy takeaways to our customers in 2020,” Deliveroo CEO Will Shu said in a statement. “That is why we are investing £1 million this year to develop a range of nutritious menus and support restaurants to offer healthy meals across the UK.”
The delivery company has partnered with registered nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, author of the best-selling book “Re-Nourish: A Simple Way To Eat Well,” founder of Rhitrition clinic in Harley Street, and the podcast host of Food For Thought.
“Our approach couldn’t be more straightforward. We want to boost healthy eating patterns across the UK and dispel the belief that healthy food is expensive, hard to find and can’t taste delicious,” Lambert said.
Besides support with menu design, ingredient sourcing, staff training, branding and marketing investment, Deliveroo is offering Lambert’s nutritionist services for select partners, in part of developing new healthy food items, without paying for consultancy fees.
Deliveroo cited their partnership with Barburrito as an example to such support, with the creation of “The RhiNourish Bowl,” made with healthy ingredients, including spinach, rainbow slaw, avocado and omega seeds. More partnerships are set to be forged for the rest of the year.
Moreover, Deliveroo’s foray into creating delivery-only food brands is exemplified in their Dream Burger menu, made in partnership with Lambert as well. The burger range also features a plant-based burger.
Partner restaurants would have to operate these brands via their own kitchens.
Around 4,000 healthy restaurants have joined Deliveroo’s platform over the past three years.
New delivery pricing model
Deliveroo is also introducing lowered delivery fees to forge more restaurant partnerships and to improve their services.
A spokesperson for the company told QSR Media that customers would be paying lower delivery fees starting “as low as 99p” in many areas. Plus users will also see reduced service fees.
