While most restaurants have temporarily shut down, home delivery companies continue to be operational.
When you risk pointing your nose outside, you can see them speeding through the streets deserted by the majority of the population. Occupying the bike paths, helmet screwed on the head, and insulated bag hanging in the back, home delivery bikers continue, despite the confinement, to crisscross cities to honor orders of all kinds.
Pizzas, hamburgers, and sushi – widely consumed in the Western world in times of stability – have become rare commodities. While American people are not experiencing food shortages to this day, how can we find a balance between comfortable habits and the need for food? Does the consumer have to agree to restrict themselves and thus limit the risk of contamination to drivers, often without protection? Conversely, if we choose to support restaurateurs by using delivery companies, do we think that we are contributing to the spread of the virus?
No to anxiety, yes to precautions
A cook whose hands are badly washed, an exchange of proximity, a poorly maintained scooter, cleaned digicode keys, a handle and elevator buttons rarely disinfected, the same goes for the doorbell of the apartment destination of the order, are all new elements that make up the incredible journey of the driver. Worthy of a script by Alfred Hitchcock, this sequence of events is part of the daily life of these shadow workers.
For Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, the possible contamination by manuport is not his obsession and remains, according to him, rather little reported in the scientific and medical literature.
“I feel like we’ve focused a lot on this path of transmission because of the shortage of masks. The official message could not be relayed, because the rest did not follow behind, it focused on hand hygiene. Between a deadly virus that survives poorly on a flat surface and the actual contamination of a person, there is still a step.”
The Geneva epidemiologist insists that restaurant staff must prepare dishes with gloves and a protective mask to prevent droplets of anything from falling on food by the force of gravity. The same is true for food drivers who are an integral part of the meal chain.
No contact with customers
“By taking these hygiene rules seriously, these businesses can survive. We cannot afford to paralyze this type of economic activity at a minimum without having more scientific evidence on the place of contamination in this pandemic.” In order to avoid respiratory contact, Antoine Flahault reminds that the food driver must not open the door of a home or contact his clients.
“Once the package is brought, if the person is uncomfortable with this situation, they do not hesitate to put an alcoholic wipe on the delivery package and say that by heating the food in the oven, they will instantly kill the heat-sensitive coronavirus. The first rule of common sense is therefore not to give in to irrational anxiety.”
Between delivery companies and restaurateurs: mutual aid
Vincent Moret, COO of Hop Delivery, obviously takes the safety of delivery drivers very seriously, which is one of the major assets for the smooth running of his company. “For operational and especially sanitary reasons, we cannot afford to have one of the Hoppers contaminated.” The contractor works transparently with its staff members and allows them not to come to work when in doubt.
As for the 40 drivers in operation, they are all equipped with masks and gloves during the various stages of delivery. “We don’t joke with these basic principles and even carry out spot checks. The fact that the situation puts the supply of the population at our expense means that delivery drivers must be equipped, despite the shortage of means of protection. We have made that decision and we are taking it.”
“The most fundamental moral principle is not to put others at risk that they themselves have not accepted.” – Bernard Baertschi, Professor of Teaching and Research at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics
Full throttle
With more than 70 food shops under its belt, the delivery company is running at full capacity and remains the last vehicle that can enable restaurant owners to survive the crisis. They soon realized that they could no longer practice their trade normally. Vincent Moret and his partner Alexandre-Martin Simon have therefore decided to adapt special pricing to all their partners throughout the crisis.
“Aware of the problems our partners were going to face, we adapted our commissions. Our brokerage increases to 9% per order, plus a monthly payment of 100 francs. This new procedure allows restaurateurs to maximize the revenue from deliveries, cover their expenses to a minimum and thus save the furniture.”
Community interest and mutual aid
For the founders of Hop Delivery, the notion of community interest and mutual aid is very important. Even if they meet the new expectations of customers by adapting to current problems, they believe that in times of crisis, a company must develop a real partnership. “It’s an ethical issue,” he says.
Precisely… What is our responsibility as a customer? Bernard Baertschi, a professor of teaching and research at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics at the University of Geneva, draws a difference between an elderly person who depends on delivery companies for survival and one whose simple desire is to eat a pizza. “Whatever the case, the most fundamental moral principle is not to put others at risk that they themselves have not accepted. To the extent that a customer orders food and the person transporting it agrees to deliver it, it can be considered a commercial contract.”
Food Delivery Industry is Booming
With many people waiting for food in their homes, other people who lost their jobs embark on one of the hottest businesses – food delivery. Matthew Cape, a barber from Detroit who can’t work with hair anymore decided to buy a used van through Zemotor.com and started delivering food. “I thought of buying a motorcycle but I decided to have a van for safety and more capacity. Sometimes I bring food for 6 different people in one outing and I can’t do it with a motorcycle”, he said.