Karen Heisler has taken a stand. The owner of Mission Pie, a restaurant and bakery in San Francisco, will not deal with online food delivery companies. “This is a strong word, but I see it as a parasitic industry,” she said.
Apps such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo and — in America — DoorDash have lured hundreds of thousands of restaurants onto their platforms, charging commission of up to 30% in exchange for the promise of a huge increase in orders.
Heisler, sitting at one of her tables on a busy afternoon, said those fees were usurious. “Restaurant profit margins never go above 3%-6% in a good year,” she said. “The only way we and other restaurants can participate is to jack up prices to even…