Thwarting Theft

Large orders can be stressful, and when that large order requires delivery to a customer through a third-party delivery service you might feel a little spike in your feelings of worry.

THERE WAS A VIRAL TikTok post just months ago about a restaurant that experienced this exact situation – a $600 delivery order that was to be picked up by a food delivery service on behalf of the customer never ended up making it to its end destination. The big mystery: Was it consumed by the driver? Did someone snag the order before the driver could pick it up? Did it go to the wrong house?

While $600 takeout orders are relatively rare in the restaurant world, sadly theft isn’t. And with an increase in demand for food delivery, new worries for missing orders arise. One survey found that 54 per cent of delivery drivers reported being tempted by the smell of the food in their car – and 30 per cent have given in to that temptation by stealing the very food they were supposed to deliver.

But it’s not always the temptation of the food that’s in the car, during pick-up there are often multiple orders awaiting a driver, and that might be a tempting way to satisfy a craving or even accidentally take something they shouldn’t have when working to get the delivery on the road quickly.

The global online food delivery market is set to reach $23.5 billion over the next two years, the only sure-fire way to ensure that you don’t fall victim to missing orders would be to stay out of the delivery game altogether. Of course, if you do that, you won’t get a piece of that $23.5 billion pie. So, what’s a restaurant to do?

Joe McAuliffe, Dealer Sales Manager at Hatco Corp., says some restauranteurs are investing in heated lockers to thwart wouldbe food pilferers. While it won’t stop drivers from snacking in their cars, it will make it harder for those who have a habit of delivering meals to their bellies instead of to the customer, or those who help themselves to other orders awaiting pick up from the restaurant.

Restaurants usually put delivery orders on a counter. Anyone can pick them up. And if it’s in the middle of the lunch or dinner rush, someone can get away with taking more than they’re supposed to take.

A Hatco locker lets you lock an order into a secure cabinet, safe in the knowledge that it won’t be stolen or taken accidentally in a rush.

“Our customers are building them into the wall that’s between the kitchen and a designated pickup area,” he says. “You place the food in the locker and send the driver a receipt with a number or a QR code on it. The driver enters the code, retrieves the food, and they’re on their way.”

Hatco also sells the Minnow Pod, a similar product that is fully integrated through a cellular network. “It communicates with the driver by text when the food is ready,” McAuliffe says. “Then they walk up to the pod and it communicates again, asking: ‘are you in front of the pod?’ ‘Are you ready to open the door?’ When the answer is yes, the door swings open.”

Both the Hatco locker and the Minnow Pod can work for hot and cold menu items too. “If you have an order with a hot sandwich and a salad, you don’t want to put the salad in a heated locker,” McAuliffe says. “But you can use an ambient setting to put the salad in. The same code will then open up the heated locker so you can retrieve the hot sandwich as well.”

It is a big investment, but it’s one that will save you money, because it stops people from stealing or meals from getting in the wrong hands which means you won’t have to remake orders.

A challenging side of owning or operating a business is having to think of the risks that could put you at a disadvantage, but when you can think ahead and implement strategies that will help you avoid an unfortunate circumstance, you’ll be locking in for success.