From a casual burger to a gourmet steak, these days, restaurant customers can order just about any food with the click of a button through a mobile delivery app.
During the pandemic, there was a surge in restaurant takeout orders through mobile delivery services, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, Caviar, and others.
As the trend continues to grow, delivery drivers are handling more orders at a time. That means the food doesn’t just go from point A to point B, but often to points A, B, C, and sometimes D, all in one delivery trip. So, the question for restaurants and other food providers is, how do you keep food crisp, hot, safe, and secure for your customers?
“The need is to supply a meal as close to the experience as they would get if they were dining at the restaurant,” said Tom Furia III, Vice President of Category, Foodservice at Envoy Solutions. “A lot of higher-end restaurants are starting to participate in the game, if you will. And if you are going to pay $45 for a T-bone steak, you’d want that T-bone steak to at least be warm.”
Every type of food requires different packaging to get the job. At Envoy Solutions, we work as a trusted partner with our clients to identify customized foodservice solutions that are right for your mobile delivery service needs.
Here are the key criteria to ensure the food delivered through mobile delivery services is meeting your customers’ expectations:
Crisp
- Nobody likes a soggy French fry or fried chicken. However, once you introduce heat inside a package, you create moisture that can lead to sogginess if you don’t use the right food packaging. You need a container with proper venting to let the heat escape so the food stays crisp as intended.
Hot
- If a dish should be served hot, that’s what customers expect with their delivery. However, keeping food hot can be a challenge with the time that passes between preparation and delivery. You can use holding cabinets to keep the food warm on-site while it’s sitting on a shelf and specially-designed meal delivery bags to keep food at the proper temperature while the delivery driver is transporting it.
Safe
- How do you know if hot food maintains a safe temperature for your customers? 140 degrees is the proper holding temperature for food, which should be the standard for any restaurant or delivery driver. The steps we recommended in the above section to keep your food hot during delivery will also keep it safe for your customers. Win-win!
“The restauranteur should be thinking, if my delivery person isn’t able to hold the food at a proper temperature, maybe I should start thinking about alternates,” said Furia III.
Secure
- Your restaurant’s customers want to feel assured that no one will be getting their hands on their food as it goes from being prepared to delivery. You can use tamper-proof food packaging to give customers confidence that their food is secure.
“As the trend continues, customers’ expectations are becoming higher,” said Furia III. “There are more options, and we need to help our end-user clients provide solutions to meet the needs of their customers.”
Are you looking to capitalize on the fast-growing trend of mobile food delivery services? Contact Envoy Solutions, and our industry experts will find the right foodservice solutions to help you meet customers’ expectations for high food quality.
