Article content

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurant operator Alex Rechichi had mixed feelings about food delivery apps.

“I have three words to describe the relationship: A necessary evil,” said Rechichi, who runs the Toronto-based gourmet burger chain The Burger’s Priest and other brands under his Crave It Restaurant Group.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or ‘Barely treading water’: Delivery apps’ high fees have restaurants seeing red Back to video

Now that his restaurants have been forced to adopt takeout or delivery-only models due to social distancing, the high service fees charged by the delivery apps have put those relationships to the test.

Rechichi, whose restaurants once got 35 to 40 per cent of their business from apps such as Uber Eats and SkipTheDishes, said he’s trying to get customers to order through a proprietary app, because it gives the company more control.

“We’re an industry where our margins are very, very thin,” Rechichi said. “And at a time like this when 95 per cent of your sales are going online and your delivery partners are taking 25 per cent for the service they offer, it’s really hard to make money.”