Eco-friendly food delivery service launches in Glasgow

From left: Gillian McIntyre, owner at Mayze; Stewart McGown, ecoeats co-founder and CTO; and Phillip Housley, ecoeats co-founder and CEO

ecoeats is on a mission to tackle two of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions – packaging manufacture and transportation. Every delivery is made using a bike or electric vehicle and a growing number are provided in reusable ecoboxes.

Participating restaurants deliver food using the ecoboxes, which are then collected by couriers at customers’ convenience, washed and sanitised, then put back into circulation.

How does it help takeaway businesses?

Reduced commission rates mean independent restaurants make up to four times more profit from an order through ecoeats compared to one placed through multinational competitors – and close to 100 businesses have already made the switch.

More than 40 businesses quickly joined the service during a successful pilot in St Andrews, and ecoeats has already delivered almost 63,000 meals to customers in the town. Now close to 100,000 orders have been delivered through the ecoeats service, with Glasgow and Dundee on board.

What are ecoeats saying about it?

CEO Phil Houseley, who founded the business with CTO Stewart McGown, said: “We believe in delivering a fairer deal to independent restaurants and our environment. I saw first-hand how poorly restaurant owners were treated with excessive commissions. I was also shocked at the volume of deliveries made by mainstream delivery companies using unbranded carbon-emitting vehicles, and the sheer waste in food delivery packaging.

“With COP26 now upon us and the eyes of the world on Glasgow, this is the perfect place and time to begin to transform the takeaway industry from carbon producer to completely net-zero.

“We’re incredibly proud to be based in Scotland, paying taxes in Scotland and creating local Scottish jobs, while every single customer, rider or merchant on our platform is actively making the world better by reversing the greenhouse emission and single-use plastic epidemic.”

What Glasgow takeaways have signed up to ecoeats?

Among those who have eschewed mainstream rivals, favouring the environmentally friendly alternative, is MAYZE. The vegan cafe is located on Argyle Street, just a short walk from where delegates from around the world will descend to discuss action on climate change.

Mayze founder Gillian McIntyre believes making the switch to ecoeats was a simple one.

She said: “The sustainability of the future will be the result of the choices we make every day – choosing the right one is our responsibility and it’s important that businesses take the initiative. A zero-emission delivery service is one of those simple choices and ecoeats is that choice.”

How do I use ecoeats?

Following the successful pilot project in St Andrews, customers in Glasgow and Dundee can now order takeaways via the ecoeats app (available on the app store). The company is planning to offer its service in cities across the UK by the end of 2022.

For more information, visit the ecoeats website.