Biz gathers steam as food outlets offer contactless delivery

Manpriya Singh

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 22

He said, “Customers now ask us to either leave the bags outside the gate or place these on a chair/table just inside the premises.” Burger King has directed its delivery personnel to maintain a distance of three metres while handing over food, just to be on the safe side.

All these precautions seem to have worked, as Himanshu Pant, manager at the chain’s Sector 35 outlet, admits to having made an average of 100-plus deliveries for the past three days. “We also monitor the temperature of the rider and make deliveries to those who opt for a prepaid order and not cash on delivery. This makes a lot of difference.”

Goldie’s Roost, another fixture in the fast food lane, Sector 8, Chandigarh, has been relying on their in-house staff for deliveries. “We started operations only on Friday and we haven’t partnered through Zomato and Swiggy. In the first couple of hours, someone ordered butter chicken,” says cashier Sabal Singh. “Given the contactless deliveries in place, people’s response has been encouraging so far, as we’ve been steadily delivering 12 to 15 parcels every day for the past three-four days,” says Manav Mehra, owner, Mainland China. Mehra feels the food industry will not be affected in the long run. However, he is not sure about food joints functioning inside closed space. “I feel closed spaces, especially those housed inside malls, will be the last ones to gain public’s confidence.”

Ankush Arora from Uncle Jack’s admits to getting a mixed response from various sectors of the city. “Our Sector 8 outlet did better than expected, as did the markets in Ludhiana and Mohali. However, response to our Sector 35 branch has been lukewarm, perhaps because students and other PG crowd in those sectors have all gone back home.”

Those who have ordered food have their logic. Puneet Garga, who ordered a birthday cake last week, says, “How the food is delivered matters. I’d rather order a dish that requires no direct contact with hands.”