The Berlin-based startup voilà connects exceptional restaurants with gourmets throughout Germany and Austria and provides special restaurant experiences for people to enjoy at home. Delivery can thus be more than just food supply. We spoke with voilà co-founder Julius Wiesenhuetter.
What is special about delivery today?
Delivery is an opportunity for every restaurateur to reach new guests beyond their own dining room.
What has been your experience with delivery? And why is it profitable for the country's best chefs to send their meals across the country?
We realized that the previous delivery business was unable to reach a large number of potential customers outside of the delivery area. At the same time, we were keen to empower the country's best chefs to provide their menus across previous borders and thus to new target groups of food lovers. This not only brings further sales opportunities for restaurateurs, but at the same time allows a special dining experience at home. With our approach, we do not intend to create an alternative to visiting a restaurant, but rather to attract new groups of guests and diversify the business.
What criteria does Delivery focus on? And what can you advise from your experience?
Intelligent packaging management is an important criterion. Furthermore, logistics as well as operations, a digital infrastructure, efficient marketing activities and strong customer services are crucial. There should be great emphasis on operational activities in terms of logistics, digital infrastructure for order processing, efficient marketing and sustainable service. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, such as environmentally friendly packaging solutions made from biodegradable materials.
Appropriate cooling is crucial for “Home Fine Dining”. The meals should only be freshly prepared on the day of dispatch and packed with reusable water-based ice packs that keep the food safe and refrigerated for up to two days.
Where do you see more potential in delivery?
In these times, we clearly see that delivery is becoming even more important. Even before Covid, the industry was developing extremely dynamically. The pandemic has accelerated this even further. Enjoying food regardless of where you are will continue to gain in importance in times of people working from home and on the move. We are observing a shift from existing restaurants to multi-channel providers and believe that there is still further potential in this field. All embedded in a pleasant process for the customer, where the focus is not only on high quality but also includes an "experience" factor when unpacking. Bringing an authentic restaurant experience to people's homes is the next generation of the food delivery segment.