Around this time last year, we were operating The Charcoal Grill as a once-a-week delivery-only #restaurant. Orders grew WoW till early June.
Then, all summer, it seemed like there was no more #COVID in Toronto. Restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen, and people thronged the beaches, pools, museums, and parks.
Turns out, #fooddelivery in Toronto is an anti-cyclical business; we did well during the lockdown, and would probably have done well again come second-wave / winter, but without a storefront, there was no way to be competitive in the summer.
Yet, we still managed to survive, albeit just a little bit longer, thanks to #healthworkers.
In early May, a nurse reached out (on IG) asking if we were donating meals for health-workers. I wrote to our customers and asked them to donate meals at cost ($10).
The response was incredible!
We sold 35 within the first three hours. By the end of the week, we had sold another 100; in total, we delivered 200+ meals to various hospitals all over Toronto.
The hospital meals backstopped our expenses for a few weeks, but it was never going to be enough to sustain. The only other option was to reopen a storefront…
Operating from a #ghostkitchen with no contractual commitment meant we could walk away just like that, and we did.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.