Bloomberg Column Highlights App-Based Industry’s Crucial Role in Post-Pandemic Restaurant Resurgence

Restaurants are finding their economic footing again after a rough spell during the pandemic. A recent Bloomberg column says app-based delivery are one key reason why.

Let’s look at the data: Restaurant worker wages are up. Restaurant sales have grown for the seventh straight month; in September alone, sales totaled $26.6 billion more than in February 2020. That’s good news for an industry that has over 15 million workers and generates nearly $1 trillion in sales, helping power a significant part of the U.S. economic engine in local communities across the country.

And although the number of restaurant workers has now eclipsed its February 2020 total, it has not yet reached the levels projected by pre-pandemic growth trends.

Taken together, that means restaurants are selling—and preparing more food—with fewer workers. In other words, restaurant productivity has increased significantly (which has helped pay for those wage increases).

How is that possible, you may ask. The app-based delivery industry is playing a crucial role, according to Justin Fox, a Bloomberg columnist. Fox notes that “one key reason full-service restaurants are able to serve more food with fewer workers is that much of the work of getting that food to customers has been outsourced to delivery apps.”

In the intensely competitive food delivery market, restaurants have an array of third-party delivery apps to consider. Recognizing the value in getting their food to more people, 75 percent of independent restaurants have turned to third-party delivery services.

As restaurants go, so goes the economy. That’s why policymakers should consider the impacts stemming from a host of new federal regulations—from agencies the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Labor to the National Labor Relations Board—that could undermine restaurants’ recent tailwinds and undercut all those who depend on the food service sector.

Workers, consumers, and communities all benefit from a thriving restaurant industry, and the app-based delivery industry is proud to partner with restaurants on their continued road to recovery.