Food shopping is falling off Americans’ to-do lists. Whether your customers are catering a feast or just stocking up on weekly lunchbox favorites, it’s becoming increasingly likely that they’re turning to food delivery rather than stopping by the deli counter. 

Online food delivery has become a $1 trillion market. Two-thirds of deliveries are non-prepared food orders like grocery and meal kits, and the remainder are meal delivery orders for prepared foods. But getting any food onto customers’ tables is no easy feat, and with grocery delivery expected to grow another 22% in 2024, getting it right is essential.

For food and beverage companies, trying to build a delivery fleet big enough to handle the speed, accuracy and food safety requirements can be challenging — which is why more brands are turning to Roadie. Smart technologies like batching and routing, cold-chain compliance and real-time tracking are just a few ingredients in crowdsourced delivery’s recipe for success. These features and more add up to ultrafast food delivery solution that keeps customers happy and food and beverage companies successful. 

The pitfalls of in-house food delivery

For small food and beverage businesses, maintaining a delivery fleet might be an option, but doing so requires more than a couple of vans and drivers. The cost of insurance, fuel and vehicle maintenance can add up quickly, along with the overhead of paying drivers. 

Moreover, in-house fleets can only deliver so far from their home base, whether that be a kitchen, bakery, retail shop or warehouse. When scaling up requires growing a fleet, and growing a fleet minimizes profits, it’s time to turn to logistics partners that want your business to grow as much as you do.

• The advantages of crowdsourced food and beverage delivery. Using the Roadie network for food and beverage delivery can help alleviate the stresses that come with an in-house fleet. It all starts with the robust Roadie digital platform that gives food and beverage companies access to a suite of tools that help move delicious meals from the prep table to the dinner table.

• Batched and routed deliveries. Whether you’re delivering multiple grocery orders to a busy neighborhood or catering several corporate lunches around town, batched and routed deliveries help you provide on-time food while maximizing efficiency. Rather than sending multiple drivers to a variety of destinations, batching and routing lets you put a single driver in charge of a streamlined route with multiple stops in a short delivery window. If you have more than five daily deliveries, working with Roadie could save you an average of 25% on delivery costs compared with traditional methods.

• Delivery tracking and confirmation. Not all deliveries can be batched, but when working with Roadie, they can all be tracked and updated in real time. The Roadie platform lets senders and recipients follow their order progress so food deliveries can be picked up promptly. Additionally, the Roadie platform features a full photographic chain of custody from pickup through delivery that  helps both parties feel confident in the safe delivery of their orders.
• Keeping goods cold. Maintaining the integrity of frozen or refrigerated goods is critical for food and beverage companies, but refrigerated trucks and vans can be even more expensive to operate than standard vehicles. By accessing hyperlocal delivery drivers through Roadie, you can mitigate the need for specialty vehicles. From warehouse to doorstep, drivers can keep meats fresh and ice cream frozen in cold-packed coolers throughout the delivery window. If your cold-packed goods are out for delivery longer than one hour, Roadie generates an automatic return.

Ultrafast delivery for food and beverage orders 

Leveraging Roadie for food and beverage delivery comes with a number of benefits, but the juiciest bite remains ultrafast delivery. Roadie makes it possible for food and beverage companies to fulfill consumer demand for speed. Whether it’s a last-minute catering order or the groceries Mom doesn’t have time to pick up, senders using Roadie can give shoppers the flexibility of same-day delivery, leading to happier customers and repeat business.  

The food and beverage industry is growing fast, and service providers need to know that their partners are ready to grow, too. While business owners focus on curating the meals and ingredients their customers love, Roadie enables you to streamline the logistics of food and beverage delivery with speedy and scalable tools. Reach out today to learn how crowdsourced food and beverage delivery can set the table for your business’s growth and success.