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Mr D Food to resume full operations from the 2nd of May

Retail 30 April 2020

Food delivery service Mr D Food announced that it will resume its full operations from Friday the 2nd of May when the country switches to level 4 of the lockdown.

Mr D Food chief executive Devin Sinclair said in a statement: "As a South African brand, we are proud to offer a crucial service during lockdown to ensure we are all doing our part to support government initiatives to promote social distancing.

"Delivering from restaurants, convenience stores and Checkers MediRite pharmacies on the platform is just one way we are supporting South Africans during the lockdown period while making sure they can stay indoors."

Much like the rest of the restaurant industry, Mr D Food has been hard hit by the lockdown. The opening up of restaurants for food delivery will allow Mr D Food and restaurants to try to recover from the devastating impact that five weeks of lockdown has had on businesses.

Mr D hopes to offer a lifeline and facilitate a revenue stream for the thousands of restaurants across the country – from local neighbourhood favourites to established franchise chains – that have been impacted by the lockdown.

As a delivery platform with a national footprint and an established audience, Mr D Food offers a built-in ecosystem which can help restaurants deliver without having to operate and maintain their own delivery service.

"We will also be implementing initiatives to support the restaurant industry as they reopen. As a first step, we are introducing a commission relief scheme which reduces the commission rates for the vast majority of our restaurants partners.

"We have also allocated marketing funds to drive promotional initiatives to generate orders and revenue for neighbourhood restaurants.

"Last, we will be launching a new feature in the Mr D Food app that will allow customers to support their favourite restaurants, by making a Covid-19 contribution directly to the restaurant when placing a delivery order," said Sinclair.

Contactless delivery has now been implemented, with drivers instructed not to make physical contact with customers and to maintain a safe distance. Bags will be placed on a surface indicated by the customer.

Customers can only pay using the payment methods available in-app, credit or debit card, instant EFT or eBucks.

Driver’s bags are frequently cleaned, and all drivers have access to hand sanitiser with clear instructions to sanitise their hands before and after each delivery or collection.

All drivers are now temperature tested daily at each of the driver hubs. Protective masks have been rolled out for all drivers. Mr D Food has also communicated with restaurant partners that they follow the relevant World Health Organization guidelines for their businesses.