The Lowdown: GRUBie
What’s the pitch?
GRUBie is a digital platform that connects the public with people cooking at home. The service is targeting chefs that might not be able to work at the moment and need an alternative source of income, but anyone can sign up.
So no professional catering experience required then. Sounds a bit, err, grubby...
It is admittedly a curious choice of name for a platform that sells food produced in people’s homes. Those that feel a bit icky about it all will be pleased to know that all GRUBie cooks are required to be council registered and will need a minimum food hygiene rating of three once EHO inspections resume.
How does it work?
It’s a broadly similar concept to the likes of Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Sign-up, create a menu and start selling online. Vendors have a lot of flexibility in terms of what is offered. They can opt to sell food cold for reheating or ready to eat and can opt to have people come and collect food or deliver it themselves or through a third party (there are also plans afoot for GRUBie to team up with a courier service). The service officially launches in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Northampton from later this month and will charge a commission of 13% plus VAT, which GRUBie says is considerably lower than the big three food delivery platforms.
Who is behind it?
GRUBie was founded during the first lockdown by Dee Perera and Mehmet Kocaman. Both travelled around the UK for business and found it difficult to find food that was both tasty and healthy. “GRUBie just makes perfect sense to us – the UK is such a melting pot of so many different cultures and backgrounds but, once you get out of the big cities, it isn’t represented in the food – especially takeaways – on offer,” says Perera. “What’s more, the takeaways that are often available to you when travelling around the country are heavy on fried foods and unhealthy choices.”
Has anyone tried anything similar?
As far as we know there is nothing comparable out there in terms of tech, but a lot of chefs pivoted to producing food at home when restaurants were forced to close. One of the more notable and successful examples is Five Star Kebabs, which saw chefs Dan Kenny and Luka-Dmitryi serve gourmet kebabs out the window of a central Brighton flat.
