With the City of Toronto looking to shut down all of Uber’s operations, the company is pushing ahead with new offerings including a lunch-time meal delivery service.

Beginning Thursday, UberEats launches in downtown Toronto, where customers can use the ride-hailing app to order up meals chosen from featured restaurants between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays.

The service, which began in Los Angeles last August, has since expanded to New York, Chicago and Barcelona. It uses data information to predict ordering patterns and demands, and says most meals will be delivered in 10 minutes or less, though it is not offering a “free” promise.

“We’re able to have delivery partners do multiple drop offs in one swoop, without going back and forth to the restaurant,” said Elyse Knopf, who is the regional lead for UberEats based in Chicago.

Food delivery options have always existed from pizza to Chinese takeout. In recent years, it has expanded to bring restaurant fare to the door with companies like Just Eat and Order It.

But Uber is choosing top-rated UberX drivers—those who use their own vehicles to drive passengers around—during midday hours, when demand is low.

It will begin initially in the downtown core, between Bathurst and Sherbourne Sts., south of College St., with plans to expand in the months ahead

Each day, Uber will feature two offerings from a local eatery such as Caplansky’s, Hawker Bar, Valdez or P&L Burger, an offshoot of Parts and Labour, as well as chains like California Sandwiches and Fresh Restaurants.

The meals will be priced between $8 and $12, before taxes, with a flat delivery fee of $3, regardless of the number of meals ordered. For the first two weeks, the fee will be waived in Toronto.

Uber will take an undisclosed commission from the restaurants for every item ordered, and drivers will be paid by Uber for their services, comparable to what they might earn if they were driving passengers at that hour, Knopf said.

During a test run, UberX driver Christian Kuhnle was delivering $12 porchetta sandwiches from Bar Buca on Wednesday. Orders are to be picked up curbside to save time.

Kuhnle, who is retired, has been driving his gray Mazda 3 car as an UberX driver since last November, and loves it. “I am busiest early in the morning until about 10, and then it starts again around 2 p.m.,” he said, estimating he earns about $25 an hour.

“The less downtime you have, the better your hourly rate,” he said. “Weekends are very good for me.”

Monte Wan, owner of Thai restaurants Khao San Road and Nana, said he’s usually skeptical about any new concepts.

“But I take all meetings just in case there is something good,” Wan said, adding he thought the partnership with Uber could work, especially since his Nana kitchen isn’t in use at that hour.

“It’s not about branding,” he said. “It’s about satisfying my customers. We can’t meet the demand. When they call up and get a busy signal (to order for pickup), they get frustrated.”

Uber certainly isn’t shy about gaining publicity, especially with the city’s court application scheduled to begin June 1. It has promised to send users ice cream on a hot summer afternoon, or delivered puppies to the office for a visit.

Ken Wong, a marketing professor at Queen’s University, said Uber may have begun as a taxi service, but ultimately it could become synonymous for services, just like what Amazon has done for retail.

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“Uber could use the same template for taxis, and offer lawn cutting or dry cleaning services, anything of that ilk,” he said.

“Uber sees the service booking business in same light as Amazon. Whoever gets there first is going to own it, because you don’t need two,” Wong said.

After all, people know Amazon is the biggest retailer, but no one really remembers who is the second biggest, he said.

“For Uber, it wants to get as big as it can as quickly as it can without letting quality suffer,” Wong said.

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