Food delivery made easy

Delivery services is an altogether a separate department of its own. It requires a lot of planing management, marketing and a separate staff to handle it. The postal services, couriers services have upgraded and we now have most of the daily essentials reaching our doorsteps. Restaurants and food joints are not lagging behind in the race to reach out to customers at their doorsteps. The take away services have also been a relief to many who wish to order from a food joint. Many a times, restaurants themselves find it difficult to manage between catering to restless customers and at living up to the food delivery commitments. Understanding the scenario in the food industry, there have been food delivery services coming up in various parts of the state.   

Phoenix FoodKart

Like most people, Sanket Naik also enjoyed ordering home delivery from time to time. However, there were times when the food joint he wanted to order from, did not have a home delivery option. “Also there are clauses put up for the food delivery by restaurants like the minimum order should be Rs 500 or can be delivered within a particular radius,” says Naik. The idea to start his own food delivery service took off from there. Phoenix FoodKart began operations from May end. “We have five delivery guys and have tied up with 10 major restaurants and food joints in Margao. Initially I approached around 4 or 5 restaurants and the remaining came to us to join the food delivery service. We take minimum commission per order from the restaurants and the food joints. Most of the restaurants that we have tied up with do not have their own delivery service which is why have joined hands with us. Till now we have delivered in places such as Colva, Benaulim, Navelim etc,” says Naik who is a Diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering and earlier worked with a pharmaceutical company in Verna.  

The delivery service has a dedicated website which features the menu of various restaurants who have collaborated with the food delivery service. The same is with the FoodKart app which was launched recently. Once the order is placed, the service provider gets a notification wherein he can accept or reject the order in real time. At the same time, the service can also ask if the customer needs to order from any other joint together with the previous order. Depending on the location at which the delivery service is asked for, the owner then gives an estimate time of delivery. At FoodKart, you can get your orders upto 2.30am. “We have a food joint in Borda which provides us with late night food. Thus we could make a provision in our app called midnight muncheez where in options available during late night hours have been compiled in that section,” say Naik, adding that he was very much inspired by the food delivery services running in Kolkata and wanted to replicate the same in his own state.  

FOODEL

Panaji need not despair however. As Anand Tarcar and Surendra Prajapati have teamed up to launched their very own food delivery service called FOODEL which is due to begin operations mid June. At present the duo are in the process of tying up with various food joints in and around Panaji which are unable to home deliver food themselves. They are also working on the branding part of it through various platforms on social media and also though personal contacts. 

“We want to personally be in touch with our customers to understand the kind of food they want to have. If the customer wants less sugar, if they have salt limits etc, we can accordingly get it done from our restaurant partners. We are also working on our website and app which will be launched shortly,” says Prajapati, who holds a BBA degree and previously worked in the automobile industry. Tarcar meanwhile is an MBA degree holder who earlier worked with a finance company. The duo previously have experience of arranging for food requirements of some of the business establishments during their events

FOODEL is also looking at adding a special section for home cooks and bakers “If home cooks are interested in tying up with us, we would be more than happy to extend our services there too,” says Prajapati. There are no upper and lower limits to place an order. Their delivery service will be in operation till 2.30 am.

Foodbudz

Ainsley Rodrigues began Foodbudz (that rhymes well with the taste buds from where the name is derived) about one and half month ago and the business can proudly boast of tying up with around 20 restaurants from Margao and adjoining areas. “Being a foodie, I used to face difficulties getting food delivered to my doorstep.The restaurants who could deliver, provided so within may be 2-3 km radius. So I decided to start this venture. 

At Foodbudz we bridge that gap and provide service to customers beyond that radius. We start in the morning at 7.30am and provide services till 11pm at night,” says Rodrigues, who previously worked with a finance company, post graduation.