A new law in California that took effect on January 1 has caused the removal of tens of thousands of restaurants from food delivery apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, and Caviar, reports Eater. Approved last fall, the law requires apps to offer delivery only from restaurants they have a direct partnership with and pull listings from those with which they don’t have any contact.
The issue began in January 2020 when Pim Techamuanvivit, owner of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Thai restaurant Kin Khao, discovered that delivery services were offering food from the restaurant’s menu without her permission.
The same happened to Billy Joe Agan of Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland, California, when delivery drivers unexpectedly showed up to his bar looking for orders from a menu last used in 2016.
“As far as the customer knows, the fault is mine,” Agan said. “A customer makes an order, they assume it’s made as part of a partnership between Eli’s and an app, and then I’m saying no. Then the delivery app tells the customer ‘They refused your order’ … even though I’ve never agreed to be on any of these apps.”
The new law could have a large impact on the options available to these apps. According to the Wall Street Journal, in September, Postmates had 700,000 restaurants on its app, but only 115,000 of those had a partnership agreement with the company. Postmates itself said that 40,000 of the restaurants it lists would have to either be converted into paid partnerships or removed. Full Story
Related: Foodservice in Freefall; Company Offers Free Digital Ordering Platform to NY Restaurants.