Scroll, click eat: Online food delivery grows in HRM

When Diana Manuel arrives at someone’s home or office with beautifully packaged boxes of fresh-from-the-oven cookies, they’re always happy to see her.

After Manuel graduated from university, she made a list of her talents and things she enjoyed. Biking and baking topped the list, so she decided to open a business where she would deliver baked goods on her bicycle.

“I started out doing it on the side, while I worked a regular job. But less than a year later, I was doing this full-time,” says Manuel, the owner of Cookie Cravings in Halifax. “I’ve always loved baking. My mom would always have fresh baked goods coming out of the oven when I came home from school, and it was awesome.”

Manual asks for orders to be placed one to two days in advance, and maps out her available delivery zone on her website (www.halifaxcookiecravings.com). She occasionally uses her car for deliveries outside of the area, for a delivery fee.

September through December is her busiest season, as moms and dads order cookie deliveries for their homesick university students. The week of Valentine’s Day is also chaotic for Manuel.

“I was surprised at first, because I never really thought of the gifting side of things,” says Manuel. “I had figured people would mainly order cookies for themselves, as a snack.”

She says a lot of people are like her, and would prefer a few home-baked cookies as a treat rather than eat something prepackaged from the store.

“I get a lot of orders for Mondays and Fridays, because people are at work and want to treat themselves,” says Manuel.

All of her cookies are baked with local ingredients, like non-homogenized milk from Fox Hill Cheese House, free-range eggs from the Seaport Farmers’ Market, unsalted butter and dark chocolate from Cows Creamery, and sea-salt kettle chips from Covered Bridge Chips.

Manuel says sometimes customers will ask if she can pick up other things to go along with their order — like a bag of candy, or a balloon — and she’s happy to accommodate. She will also hand-write a message of your choice on a gift tag, at no extra charge.

Although each order has the perfect human touch, the orders themselves are placed over the internet. Manuel says her customers love being able to order using the online form, and pay using EMT (email money transfer) or PayPal.

“I’m one of those people who doesn’t like calling and ordering things, so I get it. I like to order online,” says Manuel. “It works out well for me, when my customers order online, because then I have a record of everything immediately in my email.”

She’s not alone. Todd Masse, managing director of JUST EAT Canada, says they designed their online food ordering service because so many people feel uncomfortable picking up the phone to place an order.

“Sometimes your kids are screaming in the background, so you’re trying to rush, or you’re not sure what you want and you forget something,” says Masse. “There can also be a language barrier sometimes, where it’s difficult to communicate with the person taking your order.”

Online ordering, however, means you can take your time, read the menu options carefully, and make sure you’re putting your order in exactly right.

“The average phone order takes seven minutes to complete, and a person usually spends 15 minute filling out an online order, so you’re not saving time — but you’re gaining accuracy,” says Masse. “The cheque value is usually 20 per cent higher — which is great for restaurants — because you can stop and think ‘Oh, I might try that extra dish,’ or ‘I wouldn’t mind adding a dessert.’”

JUST EAT started operations in Halifax 18 months ago, and Masse says they’re quickly adding restaurants to their roster. Customers can go online (www.just-eat.ca) or download the free app, choose a restaurant, place their order, pay, and wait for the food to arrive at their door.

“Food is a $50-billion market in Canada — and that includes fast food, but delivery service is definitely growing,” says Masse. “We’re all too busy or too lazy to cook or go out, so delivery is a way to make our lives easier.”

Food delivery itself has changed dramatically over the last five years. The only options used to be pizza or Chinese, but as our palates become more sophisticated, Masse says families are not able to order from Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, African, and vegetarian restaurants, too.

“Since there are healthier options, it’s becoming more socially acceptable to order in food,” says Masse. “You’re able to get more diverse, healthy, higher-quality meals.”

Their local sales rep approaches restaurants about being added to their website and app, so their menus are digitized and ready for online ordering. Each restaurant listing specifies their minimum order required, their average delivery time, and their delivery fee.

Delivery fees for HRM restaurants range from free or $2 to up to $14 on a single order. Masse says JUST EAT doesn’t profit at all from delivery fees, and they are up to the individual restaurant. He encourages them to not to overcharge for delivery, because restaurants with low (or no) delivery fees experience a much higher volume of orders.

He says JUST EAT is sending incremental business to the restaurants because they’re able to capture a segment of the market that wouldn’t bother going out in person to dine or pick up an order.

“It’s all about the convenience factor, because pretty much everybody is going online for everything,” says Masse. “We’re making it easier for people by aggregating food takeout delivery.”

As her online orders come pouring in, Manuel spends her days baking peacefully in her kitchen while listening to CBC radio.

Her most popular order is the chocolate praline cookies rolled in toasted hazelnuts with homemade caramel on top — they’re also the most time-intensive to bake — and the chocolate chunk cookies are always a classic. Her personal favourites are her ginger cookies with cinnamon buttercream in the center.

“The people who order are so sweet and positive. I couldn’t ask for a better customer base,” says Manuel. “They love the cookies, but they also like the fact that I’m delivering them. It gives it a personal connection.”