A California law that went into effect Jan. 1 has led to the removal of tens of thousands of restaurants from food delivery programs like SF-based Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates and Caviar. The law, passed last fall, requires that programs only offer delivery from restaurants with which they have a direct partnership, and that they must draw full lists from any restaurants with which they do not have a current contract.
The legislation was born out of a scandal that started in the Bay: In January 2020, Pim Techamuanvivit, owner of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Thai restaurant Kin Khao, was stunned to discover that delivery services, including GrubHub, seamless, DoorDash. and Yelp Delivery Platform (also GrubHub, because he bought Yelp’s Eat 24, then turned it off), allegedly offered food from her menu without her permission.
Her fierce tweets on the issue shed new light on the general practice for most delivery programs, in which the companies did add restaurants without their permission, an attempt to attract customers by apparently offering deliveries from more restaurants than their competitors. The policy has been a thorn in the side for many restaurateurs, who say that the programs often publish inaccurate or outdated menus … and when the restaurant refuses to serve food from a long menu, the programs place the blame on the restaurants instead of showing it yourself.
“As far as the customer knows, the fault is mine,” Billy Joe Agan, owner of Mile High Club, told Eater SF when delivery managers unexpectedly came down to his bar in Oakland on orders from a menu last used in 2016. ‘an order, they assume it’s made as part of a partnership between Eli’s and an app, and then I say no. The delivery app then says to the customer, ‘They refused your order’ and I’m the asshole, even though I’ve never agreed to use any of these apps. ‘
By February 2020, the issue had caught the attention of Lorena Gonzalez, a California state congresswoman in San Diego, who was proposing Bill 2149, a law that would block unlisted app offerings. The legislation went through the approval process and was signed by Gavin Newsom government in September. The final language states that in order to list a restaurant on its platform, the online food delivery company must have a contract with the restaurant, which explicitly authorizes the food delivery platform to take orders and deliver meals prepared by the food facility. . ‘
The law, which went into effect on the first day of 2021, could have a huge impact on the options available to guests using these applications – as well as the applications themselves. According to the Wall Street Journal, as of September, Uber owners, for example, boasted 700,000 restaurants on its app. Of those, only 115,000 had a partnership agreement with the app. In California alone, Postmates said in September, 40,000 of the restaurants they name must either be converted into paid partnerships or removed.
Other delivery programs, such as Doordash, are better prepared for the new law. According to the WSJ, more than 95 percent of its Q3 business comes from restaurants with which it has already partnered. Nevertheless, news of California law caused a drop in the stock price, which saw an all-time low of $ 135.38 to a high of $ 195.50.