Flipdish has announced the launch of StraightFrom.com, a website directory that offers free listings to local restaurants and takeaways.
Flipdish hopes the site can help food businesses bypass marketplaces such as Deliveroo and JustEat.
Flipdish CEO Conor McCarthy said: “I would encourage people to support their local food businesses.
“The hospitality industry in Ireland has been badly affected by the Covid pandemic since March 2020 and at Flipdish we want to help support it whenever and wherever possible.
“This is why we are backing StraightFrom.com. We want to ensure that customers are aware of all the local food businesses in their area that they can order from.
In Association with
“We believe this free platform will help those businesses who want to steer away from the high fees attached to listing their businesses on aggregator websites and connect directly with customers.”
McCarthy added that the site will list any restaurant or takeaway and not just Flipdish clients.
Flipdish estimates that since March 2020 Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats have garnered €270m in commissions in Ireland.
The company also calculates that since the onset of the Covid pandemic, aggregators have enjoyed c.£2.5bn in commission in the UK, €1.1bn in France, and €1bn commission in Spain.
“Flipdish’s mission is to help its customers thrive as we emerge from the pandemic and for that reason this campaign stretches far beyond Ireland,” McCarthy added.
“StraightFrom.com is available in all markets where Flipdish operates. Flipdish is encouraging customers across Europe to support their local food businesses by ordering directly from their websites when possible.”
Flipdish wants more restaurants to use its technology to process orders and deliveries. The company cites the experience of Nathan Bennett, owner of The Lab restaurant in Dublin.
“The problem with aggregators is that we have no control over the delivery experience,” said Bennett.
“Since working with Flipdish, we've realised that we can still control the whole customer journey from start to finish without that fear that they're going to get a bad experience from an aggregator.
“With the aggregators, it always feels like you're working for them rather than working for yourself.”
