Photo by Petr Sevcovic on Unsplash
The Asian Catering Federation [ACF] has criticised restaurant takeaway delivery platforms in the UK for “undermining” the hospitality sector and High Street trade in general.
The ACF represents the nation’s 35,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants in the UK and the sector employs over 100,000 people and contributes more than £5 billion to the UK economy.
Committee member, chef Binod Baral, a Goodwill Ambassador for the Gurkha Centre in London, said: “Delivery companies don’t need a multitude of restaurants on the high street – a single dark kitchen cooking a variety of cuisines on an industrial estate suits their needs.”
As many retail outlets have migrated to the internet and abandoned High Street locations, hospitality businesses are now prime drivers of customer footfall to town centres.
But with restaurants, bars, restaurants and takeaways hit hard by rising costs and hard-pressed customers suffering from the cost-of-living crisis, many once thriving High Streets are resembling ghost towns with boarded up windows and ubiquitous ‘To Let’ signs.
Former restaurateur turned hospitality consultant Rajesh Suri told this site: “Delivery service platforms have become multi million pound industries with huge profits, as our small takeaways and restaurants businesses faced with commission charges of up to 35%, are closing. This is driving down food quality as business owners are using cheaper ingredients in an attempt to make a profit.”
He added, “Negative mumblings from our members about exorbitant commission charges, with a focus on prices rather than quality, have been growing ever louder.”
The Federation is now calling on customers to contact favourite takeaways directly and cut out the middleman.
Nutritionists and dieticians have long warned about increasingly sedentary lifestyles, as many home deliveries are consumed unthinkingly, as customers eat while distracted by TV and computer games.
Some takeaway meals can be high in salt, sugar and artificial additives.
A short brisk walk to collect a meal, rather than wait in for a home delivery, also has many health benefits, including helping to lower blood pressure and boost mental health.
In common with several fine dining restaurants forced to close their doors during the Covid lockdown, The Cook’s Tale (formerly The Ambrette) in Canterbury, Kent had to offer takeaways for the first time.
Owner-chef Dev Biswal said: “Becoming a takeaway business suddenly from scratch, we had to create a whole new menu, with little other option than to sign up to Just Eat if we wanted to survive. But the commission payment accounted for a third of our gross profit margin.”
The ACF is urging its members to “take responsibility” for their own marketing, build customer databases, communicate directly, fulfil their own orders and build customer loyalty.
