The fallout from the collapse of restaurant delivery platform Deliveroo, revealed late yesterday afternoon 16th November, is being felt across the Canberra region, and the wider Australian hospitality industry today. And leading homegrown Canberra burger joint, Grease Monkey, is now lining up for the leftovers being handed out by administrators KordaMentha.
Grease Monkey’s owner, Nick Tuckwell, said that the collapse of the delivery giant has left a big hole in the local industry and his business.
“With three stores and a food truck across Canberra, Deliveroo became a big part of our business, providing a network of locals with ongoing delivery work, and allowing us to reach more Canberrans with our meals than ever before,” said Mr Tuckwell.
“During the Canberra COVID lockdowns, Deliveroo was the difference between surviving or going out of business. It was truly touch and go. We both supported each other during this time and genuinely helped grow each other’s brands,” Mr Tuckwell continued.
“To find out the news yesterday via a social media post and then later, via a customer email, that they had gone bust was an absolute blindside. We got zero notice. In fact, I had been on a two-hour phone call late yesterday with their marketing team discussing the next three months of promotions and activity, so I am guessing that it came as a surprise to their own team too, which is a real shame.
“The lack of notice is a huge disappointment, as a partner in a business, you have an obligation to give people a heads up, but there was nothing,” said Mr Tuckwell.
Grease Monkey is a wholly locally owned business established in Canberra in June 2015. Since opening their flagship store in Braddon, they have expanded to stores in Woden, Gungahlin and a much-loved food truck that brings burgers and beers to festivals and major events across the region. Grease Monkey now employs 145 Canberrans.
“12 months ago, we were ecstatic to have scored the national number one spot on Deliveroo’s list of top trending dishes for 2021. Grease Monkey was awarded and proudly claimed Australia’s top burger, taking out number seven worldwide. Today, I’m clicking a link to apply as an unsecured creditor.
“It’s tough to put an exact number on our losses, not only are we chasing the delivery income for the past three days, and the marketing funds from the last week, but we’ve also put a lot of additional effort into marketing and brand recognition
“There’s been a lot of discussion lately around ensuring the sustainability of the economy and improving safety and pay conditions for the riders and drivers. The Australian hospitality industry needs to support this push, and now more than ever we need to bring regulation into the arena and reduce the damage of ‘crash and dash’, leaving local businesses and people out of work and counting the losses.
“All we can do now is encourage Canberrans to continue to support local while we seek out a new delivery partner,” Mr Tuckwell concluded.
Grease Monkey is currently investigating new delivery partners and hopes to secure a new partner as quickly as possible to minimise the losses to their business.
