Cactus Cafe, Brookvale: Eatery shuns takeaway delivery giants to help customers save money
A Sydney cafe has turned its back on takeaway food delivery giants like DoorDash — and set up its own service — so its customers can save money and it can add to its bottom line.
Manly
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Owners of a popular northern beaches’ cafe have bucked a hospitality trend by turning their backs on takeaway food delivery giants like DoorDash and uber eats.
Instead, the Cactus Cafe, located in the heart of the Brookvale industrial area, has started its own delivery service to help its customers save money.
And co-owners Cedric le Page and Manu Marsan also benefit from the new initiative, by not having to hand over 30 per cent of the cost of the food orders to the online delivery platforms.
Veterans of the hospitality industry, Cedric and Manu, who are now in their third year operating the cafe, just near the carpark for Services NSW on Old Pittwater Rd, said they wanted to do more for the locals and people working in the offices, businesses, factories and warehouses in Brookvale.
After doing the maths, they worked out they could retain more of the profits from their hard work as well as better look after their customers.
As part of a trial, Cactus Cafe customers can order dishes and coffee online and have it delivered to their place of work within 30 minutes, for a flat $3 delivery fee.
Cedric makes the deliveries himself on foot and hopes, when the delivery service expands, to invest in an electric bicycle.
“I put on the delivery backpack and off I go,” he said on Tuesday.
Customers can ask for their order to be delivered between 9am and 1pm. The cafe, popular for breakfasts and lunches, opens its doors at 6am and closes at 3pm, Monday to Friday.
“We have a wide range of dishes with a lot of grab and go orders as well,” Cedric said.
A recently revised menu has items including a “breaky burrito” with scambled eggs, slaw, black beans, rice, jalapeños, chipotle mayo, Mexican salsa, mozzarella and avocado.
Cedric said the cafe’s bacon and egg roll “deluxe”, which includes two fried eggs, mixed leaves, hash brown, grilled onions, cheddar, aioli and BBQ sauce, was a favourite.
The lunch offerings include burgers, wraps, poke bowls and chicken salad with sides such as sweet potato chips. Smoothies and shakes are available.
“We try to have a wide range of food to accommodate everyone,” Cedric said.
“A lot of people are too busy to come to a cafe and wait for their food.
“Then there is the big cost of using the delivery platforms that charge a very high delivery fee.”
Cedric said coffee shops had to put their prices up to compensate for those delivery platforms, who charge the businesses 30 per cent.
“So, if we took a $100 order for a takeaway delivery, we only received about $70. The rest went to the delivery platform,” he said.
“Then the customer also had to pay a delivery fee of about $7 as well.
“We charge a flat $3 delivery fee on orders with a minimum of $25.
“Our customers have been impressed with the initiative and we’re already making quite a few deliveries.”
To check out the Cactus Cafe’s online menu, click here.
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