Belfast Eats: Food ordering app for local restaurants launches

A new online ordering app, focusing solely on selling food and drink for independent Belfast businesses, has launched with over 50 restaurants signed up already.

Belfast Eats is an app modelled in a similar style to other food delivery platforms such as Just Eat, however unlike these nationwide firms who work with large food chains including McDonald’s, Subway and Greggs, Belfast Eats will be for independent Belfast businesses only.

After seeing the impact that the pandemic has had on the hospitality sector, Belfast locals Robyn Butler, John Kearns and Patrick McCafferty decided to start the business to provide better solutions for independent food and drink businesses across the city who may be suffering financially.

The group of friends came across the franchise opportunity during lockdown and jumped at the chance to unlock benefits for their local takeaways and customers.

With the ‘support local’ sentiment on the rise, the trio launched the Belfast-based food ordering      app on 22 March 2021, with a view to making it Belfast’s number one food ordering platform.

Explaining what Belfast Eats can offer smaller businesses over its competitors, John Kearns said:

“We want to support local, independent businesses who may be struggling to compete with bigger chains who can afford a position on nationwide platforms which are often expensive and take commission of anything between 15 and 40 percent.

“Belfast Eats creates an accessible ordering service for smaller businesses by charging a flat rate commission of just 7.5 percent + VAT.”

As well as supporting local businesses and the economy with their savvy new offering, Robyn, Patrick and John also want to contribute to the local community and will be making sure to donate to local charities and youth groups.

With over 50 restaurants and food businesses already signed up and more in the pipeline, Patrick is confident this venture will support the local food industry in Belfast:

“The local element is the most important thing to us. Belfast is a small city but with so many fantastic businesses. We hope that this app will bring a community of local businesses together to improve their offering and attract more customers.”

Robyn added: “The devastating impact of the pandemic on the hospitality industry has been clear for some time now, but we are confident that Belfast Eats will provide support to businesses in the industry. There is a nominal set up fee but there are no additional monthly charges, just an extremely competitive commission rate of 7.5% + VAT, so it is a fantastic risk-free and straightforward option for businesses to sign up to.”

The app will service Belfast and the surrounding area with businesses signed up from the city centre right through to the North, South, East and West of the city.

From pizza to milkshakes and everything in between there is a wide range of food outlets signed up to the app already including: Love Pizza, Love Treats and Shakes, Loaded Street Food, Brown’s Fish and Chips, Hatch & Wolf, Oui Poutine and Blue Duck Off Licence.

With the launch date just around the corner, the founders are eager to have as many businesses sign up as possible. If you would like to know more or are interested in signing up, please contact info@belfast-eats.co.uk or check out Facebook and Instagram.