Food runners face changing duties and pay concerns amid delivery app growth
6 reported
A report from Eater examines how the rise of third-party delivery services such as Grubhub, Caviar, DoorDash, and Uber Eats is altering the responsibilities and compensation of food runners in restaurants. Traditionally tasked with delivering food from kitchen to customer, food runners now often handle packing, labeling, and handing off to-go orders, which can disrupt dine-in service. A food runner named Jane, who works at a national restaurant group’s Brooklyn location, said about a quarter of daily revenue comes from app orders, and her workload has increased significantly due to Uber Eats. She hopes runners will receive a higher percentage of the tip pool given the added duties. Some restaurant operators, like Markus Dorfmann of Aurora Restaurant Group and Kal Pant of Spice Room in Denver, said they manage the balance by temporarily pausing app orders when overwhelmed. The article notes that the average hourly wage for New York City food runners is roughly $14, and the average national income is around $28,400, not factoring in tips.
What’s reported
The article reports that food runners’ duties have expanded to include packing, labeling, and handing off to-go orders from third-party delivery apps.
A food runner named Jane (name changed) said about a quarter of her restaurant’s daily revenue comes from app orders, and her workload has changed due to increased Uber Eats presence.
Jane stated that management has been sympathetic to requests for more compensation but nothing has been done, and staff sometimes turn off Uber Eats when managers leave.
Markus Dorfmann of Aurora Restaurant Group said his team will pause app orders for short periods when overwhelmed, and that delivery apps are “icing on the cake” not core business.
Kal Pant of Spice Room in Denver said he gives second preference to third-party app customers and will switch off app orders when overloaded.
According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly wage for NYC food runners is roughly $14, and the average national income is around $28,400 (not factoring in tips).
Key figures
Jane (food runner, name changed upon request)
Markus Dorfmann (oversees operations for Aurora Restaurant Group since 2008)
Kal Pant (owner of Spice Room in Denver, Colorado)
Sources: eater.com
