Uber has already done quite the job turning New York City’s entire taxi industry solidly against it. Now, it’ll have a chance to do the same with the thousands more food runners that keep the Big Apple fed.
According to Eater, Uber has launched its first attempt to show food delivery startups what’s what, and its weapon of choice is a standalone delivery app, UberEATS. While Uber has been facilitating instant food deliveries from a handful of Manhattan restaurants for a few months now, UberEATS is meant to represent a broader experience. Included in the program at the outset are over 100 restaurants that deliver to users below 100th Street between 8 a.m. and midnight.
Grub Street gave the standalone UberEATS app a test drive on Tuesday (March 22), and the differences from the company’s instant delivery program were immediately apparent. Instead of having drivers pick up multiple orders from restaurants and then cycling around busy areas waiting for orders, UberEATS sends individual orders off with bicycle couriers for deliveries under 30 minutes.
While diners get the added benefit of individually prepared meals, that comes with the potential decrease of quality — not from how restaurants make the food but from the quality of the ride it takes along the way. A driver may not be able to navigate Manhattan as fast as a cyclist, but the meals carried by the two-wheelers are likely to suffer objectively more bumps and jostles along their routes.
However, UberEATS NYC General Manager Michael Conti told Grub Street that this is on his team’s radar.
“Quality is of the utmost importance to us,” Conti said. “Our focus was on the most popular restaurants. We looked at ratings across different platforms, as well as buzz from press and social media influencers, when selecting them.”
When asked if UberEATS is prepared for the eventuality of spilled soups and overturned pizzas, Conti assured Grub Street that the proper testing has been done.
“My team has eaten a lot of food,” he said.