Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Consumers are eating out more often but spending less on each meal, and for some Sydney CBD workers armed with a new app, they'll be able to cut their spending to $8 a lunch.
Industry data provided by Restaurant and Catering Australia shows that on average, consumers have reduced their spend on a meal by $1 to $20.50 at a restaurant and by 80 cents to $13.80 at a caf??.
A start-up called MealPal is taking advantage of the trend, launching its app-based subscription service in Sydney this week that provides CBD workers with $8 lunch options from 110 partner cafes and restaurants, including Fratelli Famous, Made in Italy and Zeus Street Greek.
It works by offering subscribers, who pay a monthly fee, one dish each weekday from each of its partner eateries. Users can select the meal they want, jump the queue and flash the confirmation email to pick up their lunch.
Building on the success of food delivery and meal kit start-ups that have exploited the desire for convenience, MealPal was able to raise $US15 million in venture capital in February to fund its growth. It's now operating in 10 cities, including New York City, Toronto and London.
Co-founder Mary Biggins said the daily offerings won't be down-sized, junior versions of what full-paying customers are served.
"It's a valid fear, but it will be the exact same meal on the original menu, for example SumoSalad is offering their salmon smoked salad which usually retails for $11.95," said Ms Biggins, who also co-founded ClassPass, a fitness class subscription service.
She said the service would help eateries - many of which are operating on paper thin margins - to boost efficiency and maximise the lunch-hour rush by giving them a bulk order for one dish.
"For most restaurants, food costs is 25 per cent, labour costs is about 35 per cent, and 30 per cent is made up of rent, insurance and things like that. Labour is expensive," she said.
"If they're able to make the same meal in large quantities, they can get the efficiencies of scale from a labour perspective."
Simon Fadous and Sergio Checchi, co-owners of Made in Italy, said they rejected 95 per cent of the start-ups that approached them about business opportunities, largely because they seemed like "duplicates".
They said MealPal offered them a chance to increase efficiency and therefore profits.
"Preparation is key, so if you know what needs to be made on that given day, it can save you time during the lunch hour," said Mr Fadous.
"If our maximum over a certain period is 100 pizzas, we could make 30 or 50 more because of the pre-orders and we're better prepared, and the other advantage is, there'll be less wastage because we won't be over-preparing."
While many start-ups and online subscription services, from Deliveroo to Hello Fresh, have found success in the food industry, there have been flops too.
Food delivery service Dish'd is shutting down in July and lunch subscription service Ross and Zane closed shop last year because "the operating and technical aspects [are] beyond our capability whilst handling scale and compromising quality control".
John Hart, chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, said that "disrupters" in the industry were increasing, instead of replacing, demand - "adding business on top of business".
He said while the constant knock on the door was probably "tiring", each business had to consider what was best for them and their customers.
"I think this new service will likely create additional business because it allows a business to be more productive," he said.
"We really struggle with the significant peak at lunch because everyone wants to eat in a two hour period, we've got to turnaround meals very quickly, so this type of disruption is a good thing."
Other stores in the MealPal network include Down N' Out, Guzman y Gomez, Roll'd and Scruffy Murphy's.
