Sabert Introduces the Delivery Vs. Dine-In Challenge!

delivery vs dine in

Delivery Vs. Dine-In Challenge

​74% say they expect delivery food quality to be the same as if they were eating in a restaurant.*

With more and more restaurants expanding their offering to include delivery, this once value-add service has now become a must-have for all restaurants and food establishments. In a busy and ever-changing segment where quality and positive brand perception is key to retaining and gaining new business, a team of Sabert Packaging Experts decided to put delivery to the test yet again in hopes of understanding how our customers can enhance diner’s delivery experience.

Six Sabert Delivery Experts split into teams of two during NRA 2016: one planning to dine in at a popular 4-star Chicago restaurant, the other ordering delivery through a third party service of the same menu items. The dine-in reservation was at 6 PM, and the delivery team ordered at the exact same time in order to gain as close of an experience as possible to each other. The two experiences proved quite different from each other, with major failure points coming from the delivery test.

Dining-In:
  • Ambiance and Value- Add: A friendly hostess greeted the Sabert team as they arrived to their reservation, which was made two months prior, at the Chicago hotspot. The restaurant was decorated beautifully with high-end table top items set on the table. The staff was professional & thorough and reviewed the menu in great depth.
  • Exceptional food quality: The entrees came out better than expected! Although there was a variety of menu items ordered, all appetizers, entrees and desserts had the perfect texture, were cooked well and were flavorful. The portions were generous, fresh, cooked to perfection and served on a variety of trendy flatware & heavy high-end cutlery. The visual food presentation was dazzling, allowing the over three-hundred dollar bill to be justified.
Delivery:
  • Worth the wait? The Sabert Delivery experts were excited to eat after waiting over a hour for their food to arrive. Two, large restaurant branded bags were stapled together and included high- end cutlery kits, salt & pepper packets, and twelve individually labeled hot food containers. All containers had the restaurant name and menu item prevalent on the lid of the package.
  • Undesirable Food Quality: Hot and cold foods were placed in close proximity and food temperature, as well as quality and texture, was now far from any in-restaurant experience. Some foods, like seafood, were even at unsafe temperatures for consumption. Fried foods were left in a puddle of water, due to condensation that could not escape the unvented food packaging.
  • Feeling Hungry for More: Improvements could definitely be made. Containers were partially filled, leaving presentation lackluster and comments of ‘where’s the rest?’ passed through the room. Does the restaurant know the quality of their takeout and delivery orders?

Most importantly, does the restaurant know how far off the mark they were in providing a delivery experience that was close to a dine-in experience?

Make Delivery Your Competitive Advantage with Sabert

Sabert’s Delivery experts can help form your new delivery strategy or take your current delivery to the next level in a way that’s suited to your menus, customers, and methods of delivery.

  • Maintain Restaurant Experience: Satisfy consumer demand with packaging that helps foods match the in-restaurant dining experience.
  • Increase Delivery Quality: Keep fried foods crisp, cold foods cold, hot foods hot, and messy foods secure with packaging designed for today’s menus.
  • Boost Customer Base & Profits: Extend your reach to a new, larger pool of customers by offering a full line of foods to off-premise diners with packaging made for transporting.
  • Expertise in Food Delivery: Experts at Sabert continuously conduct research to gain insights into the best solutions for takeout and delivery packaging.

With years spend engineering perfectly portable packaging, Sabert’s products are made for high-end restaurants and fast casual eateries alike with packaging items perfectly suited for all delivery needs.

For more information on how to select the perfect packaging solutions for your delivery program, contact the experts at Sabert.

*Sabert Survey+