A group of Northern Colorado restaurateurs is fed up being charged high commission rates and receiving poor customer service from major application-based food delivery services such as GrubHub and DoorDash.
Taking matters into their own hands, the Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland restaurant owners have banded together to launch NoCo NOSH, an alternative delivery service for local, independent operators.
“I think it’s going to give local Northern Colorado restaurants the opportunity to take back our businesses from the big guys who have come in,” Brian Seifried, a NoCo NOSH co-owner, Wing Shack founder and co-owner of Luna’s Tacos and Tequila in Greeley, said of the NoCoNOSH platform.
The concept behind NoCo NOSH, which is owned by a cooperative of more than 50 Northern Colorado restaurateurs, was sparked by Iowa City restaurant owner Jon Sewell. After GrubHub bought up a smaller delivery service and jacked up commission rates, Sewell launched CHOMP Delivery. This service became the model for NoCo NOSH.
“As [app-based delivery services have] become a bigger part of the industry, we started to worry that it isn’t a sustainable model for us,” Seifried said. “We just don’t have the margins to make something like that a major part of our business.”
He said some major delivery apps charge restaurants commissions of upward of 25 to 30 percent.
Local independent restaurants have a tough time competing with large chain restaurants, which are often charged a much lower delivery commission.
“They’re able to negotiate huge deals and pay a fraction of the commission that the mom and…