The goal of a new law that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed is to make food delivery systems better for both customers and restaurants.
We all know that ordering food through Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub costs more than going to a drive-thru, and that’s before you add in the taxes, tips, and service fees.
With Uber Eats, a Big Mac meal at a drive-thru that costs $9.59 will cost you $11.39 instead.
Do you like coffee more?
To have that $5.75 Carmel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino delivered, it will cost you $6.95.
And people have come to expect the price hikes.
A customer from Duval, Lacie Williams, said, “A $10 meal would cost like $25 on DoorDash or Uber Eats.”
“I’d say everything is better by at least $10,” Mary Forrest, a food expert from Clay County, said.
But during this session, politicians pushed to make the delivery process better.
The new law protects consumer data and makes sure restaurants can talk to delivery customers directly. It also requires food delivery companies to be clear about the extra fees, taxes, and markups users will be paying.
“If it takes too long, the customer will be angry at the restaurant, not the food delivery service.” And we want to make sure that the customer, the delivery service, and the business all get something good out of the deal, said Samantha Padgett of the Florida Business and Lodging Association.
Padgett said that the new law also says businesses have to agree to be on delivery apps and sign off on any price increases that are made to their menu.
Padgett said, “In the end, it’s up to the restaurant to decide what they will serve and how much they will charge.”
Padgett said that many of the big delivery services have already put many of the law’s defenses into place, so don’t expect big price changes.
According to Padgett, some states that have limits on delivery and service fees have made it too expensive for some smaller places to do delivery. That’s why these kinds of rules were left out of the law.
But she also said that the changes would make sure that everyone had the same chances, which should lead to more competition and happier customers.
Padgett said, “What we were looking for was honesty, permission, safety of customer data, and more communication between the customer and the restaurant.”
