The holidays are typically the peak season for sales and deliveries, but with the pandemic keeping people at home, this year has been anything but typical, especially for the delivery business. Because travel isn’t encouraged, millions are planning on having Thanksgiving at home.
More people are shopping online and using delivery services than ever before. It’s felt like peak season for delivery services like UPS and Amazon all year long! The holidays will only increase the rush. So what should drivers and home chefs do when it comes to the Thanksgiving dinner rush?
Ordering and Delivering Thanksgiving Dinners
Although this year you might not have as many people over for dinner, you can still make your festivities happen! You could certainly brave the supermarkets, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Restrictions such as waiting in lines and being allowed only a limited time in the store will be a headache. Increased demands may lead to empty shelves and scarce remaining products. It's always hard to find the perfect turkey, the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, and this year your prized bird might be sold out on shelves.
For drivers, higher demand means that there’s a potential for higher profits. Because food is time sensitive cargo, this also means that you could rake in more revenue from expedited or urgent rates. And of course, you’re helping make peoples’ holidays happen, which can be rewarding in and of itself.
There are many companies that offer well-curated Thanksgiving dinners that can be delivered straight to your door. This way, you can skip the trip to the store and have all the ingredients portioned and prepared for you. Because there are a growing number of companies offering delivery, here are just a few that could help make your Thanksgiving dinner possible.
Milk Run
For Customers: Milk Run is a service that aims to give consumers farmer’s market selection and quality without having to leave home. They offer a “farm-to-door” service that allows farmers to keep more of the money that is made through sales. They’re a new, yet, rapidly expanding company that offers high-quality groceries such as organic milk and grass-fed beef. Currently, they offer services in the Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, and Austin, TX areas.
For Couriers: Demand for quality produce is high in young urban areas. Making access to healthy and organic food easy means that people will be able to eat healthier and take better care of themselves around the holiday.
Harry & David
For Customers: Harry & David offers a wide range of high-quality ingredients and even pre-cooked, completely curated meals that would be perfect for Thanksgiving. You could get a turkey by itself, just the sides, or the entire meal delivered to you and your family.
For Couriers: Because this is a national company, there's an opportunity to expand your delivery range and get the product to new areas of the country. By increasing your delivery radius, you’ll open up opportunities to continue servicing the area in the future.
Fossil Farms
For Customers: Fossil Farms are farms based in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that raise turkeys without cages, hormones, steroids, or antibiotics. Their turkeys are also fed a completely vegetarian diet. They also offer large birds that aren’t turkeys, such as goose or exotic birds such as ostrich if you’re in the mood to be adventurous.
For Couriers: Delivering with this company means that you’ll be catering to your clientele’s every wish. Providing service to even the most discerning tastes will elevate your reputation as someone who goes out of their way to make sure the customer’s needs are met.
Williams-Sonoma
For Customers: Similar to Fossil Farms, Williams-Sonoma offers cage-free, certified organic turkeys that are locally-sourced (from Willie Bird Ranch in California). They also offer the option of fresh or pre-cooked turkeys. If you opt for the fresh option, they come chilled, not frozen, so there’s no need to factor in time for thawing.
For Couriers: When delivering with this company, you could capitalize on expedited rates so that you can deliver the turkey as fresh as possible. And with a name as familiar as Williams-Sonoma, there will always be demand for their products to reach customers all over the country.
Imperfect Produce
For Customers: Imperfect Produce is a nationwide delivery service that prides itself on offering groceries at a discounted rate compared to supermarket prices, while also eliminating food waste. They run on a weekly or bi-weekly subscription basis and they also offer further discounted rates if you qualify for SNAP.
For Couriers: Because this is a national company, you’ll be able to give underprivileged communities and neighborhoods access to healthy food during the holiday. You’ll be serving customers that previously may not have been able to celebrate the holiday.
Delivery Made Easier
This holiday season, delivery drivers can use Straightaway to make sure all the dinners arrive on time and without spoiling due to the extra efficiency the app provides couriers.
Straightaway is an app that allows delivery drivers and couriers to draw up a navigation route that gets the job done efficiently and quickly. All you have to do is take a photo of your list of addresses with your smartphone and Straightaway will do the rest. Users find that they save 1 hour of delivery time on average! This means better profits, shorter work days, less mileage on vehicles, less money spent on fuel, and you’ll be able to get your holiday started sooner.
For the consumer, better deliveries means fresher products, less delays, avoiding holiday traffic, avoiding large gatherings of people, and more time spent at home with your family. Smooth, efficient deliveries help make this Thanksgiving possible.
