Takeaway ice cream offer has rivals licked

A Petrie Tce burger bar is selling takeaway ice cream and craft beer it bottles by hand in a novel attempt to survive lockdown.

Petrie Terrace burger bar Fritzenberger has teamed up with Baskin Robbins to offer possibly the first ice cream deliveries in Australian history.

Not only that, you can also order home-delivered craft beer bottled by hand.

The quirky ideas are the latest innovations from Caxton Street traders who have refused to let the coronavirus lockdown beat them.

Just down the road, the famous Gambaro restaurants are delivering fine dining meals in two BMW Gran Coupe sports cars.

Suncorp Stadium has gotten behind traders, giving them free advertising space on an electronic billboard near the Wally Lewis statue.

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Caxton St Development Association president Sarosh Mehta said he was delighted Suncorp had got behind struggling traders.

He said the signs started out just with ads for Caxton Street businesses, but now also included messages of support for healthcare workers and for businesses on the Paddington Terraces and at Rosalie Village.

The sign outside Suncorp Stadium supporting local businesses. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Mehta also cut a deal with one of his tenants, offering him discounted rent if he agreed to include free ads for local businesses on a huge billboard around the corner from the strip.

Fritzenberger director Andrew Jeffreys said innovation was not new to them, as they were one of the first food outlets in Australia to get on board with Uber Eats.

“We were the 12th biggest in the world for a while in terms of Uber Eats deliveries,’’ he said.

“They were very new in Brisbane, there weren’t competitors and we just rode the early momentum.

“Coronavirus has forced us to pivot and look at new opportunities that play to our strengths.

“The JobKeeper program has allowed us to explore these opportunities and we wouldn’t — nor couldn’t — have tried this without it.’’

Mr Jeffreys said customer take-up had been strong since they began the ice cream trial about five weeks ago at Petrie Tce, at Fritzenberger’s Wilston restaurant and at a pop-up space in South Bank.

Customers tended to buy four packs of beer cans with takeaway food, or 12 of their bottles if they just wanted craft beer.

“We do eight beers at a time, rotating them around but we always have pale ale IPA, lager and cider available,’’ Mr Jeffreys said.

“I definitely think the ice cream deliveries are here to stay, even after coronavirus is over, and beer deliveries will stay as well.’’

A temporary ruling allowing restaurants to sell takeaway alcohol has been granted by the State Government to help businesses deal with the slowdown, but as Fritzenberger Petrie Tce has a hotel licence it will be able to continue takeaways even when the ruling ends.