ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — At Grain & Berry in St. Petersburg, about 50 percent of its business is done through food delivery platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats. However, using a third-party platform can have its challenges.
"We do lose that personable contact with the customer and having to go through the delivery service itself, to get their information or reach out to them… It's made communication a lot harder," General Manager Jake Wessel Camper explained.
Senate Bill 676, signed into law this week, seeks to change that.
"What it means for restaurants is that they have to consent before their restaurant can appear on a food delivery platform," Samantha Padgett, VP of Government Relations for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said.
The new law also states:
- Delivery platforms can no longer raise menu prices without consent from the establishment
- Require delivery platforms to provide restaurants with a method of contacting and responding to customers directly
"Customers ask for different things, and as a delivery [driver], they're all sealed by the time I get them. So, if they don't have what they want in there, I can't really help them with that. I can't open their packages. So I think it's good they have direct access to communicate with the customer," Richard Sill, delivery driver, explained.
Sill rides his bike through downtown St. Petersburg making his deliveries for Uber Eats, but he's working on starting his own business to help bridge the gap.
"I'm just customer-service oriented. So I just want to get them their food and make them happy," Sill added.
That's the goal of this bill, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association said. Padgett said it aims to strengthen relationships between restaurants and delivery platforms.
"One of the big driving factors was we wanted to make sure that if food delivery was an option for a restaurant...they were going to be able to be successful and that that was going to be a positive relationship and they would look at that food delivery platform as a partner in success and not an adversary," Padgett said.
Meanwhile, Wessel Camper said he's hopeful the new changes will sweeten the experience for those who enjoy their tasty takeout.
"I'm hoping being able to directly contact the customer is going to boost our sales a lot...If it was me and I was ordering from a restaurant and my order didn't come as I wanted it or didn't come on time, I would want to hear from the manager or owner that they're trying to make it right, and that would entice me to give them another chance," Camper said.
