In an agile and remarkably fast response to the current restrictions on hospitality outlets, some of Canberra’s most popular venues have announced they will be running ‘dark’ kitchens and selling ready-to-eat meals from a new online portal under the name No Biggie Meals.
The service launched today — Thursday, 26 March.
Phil Trenbath from The Mark Agency said the first venues to sign up to the site were The Duxton, Assembly, Walt & Burley, Monster Bar and Kitchen, Little Oink, Siren, Howling Moon, Kamberra Function Centre and Lil Milk Bar.
“No Biggie represents a number of things,” he said. “It’s keeping our hospitality industry alive, and the suppliers and all the associated industries we work with. And it’s really important that Canberrans eat healthy and nutritious meals because that helps build a healthy immune system.”
The menu on the site is exclusive to No Biggie Meals, and standard across all venues, providing a healthy ready-to-eat option. Dark kitchens will prepare the meals, and customers can nominate the venue they wish to support and the collection point when ordering.
The meals can be heated or frozen for later use, and are launching at just $10 per meal to ensure that optimal nutrition is available to people in the community, particularly those people who are unable to shop in stores, and take the pressure off supermarket supply chains.
Customers will be able to order their usual takeaway meal from the participating venues but are also encouraged to eat healthy, balanced meals which provide excellent nutrition.
“This crisis is having a devastating impact on the hospitality industry – the vital cash flow from food sales has dried up, and workers are being stood down as a consequence,” said Australian Hotels Association General Manager Anthony Brierly.
“This wonderful initiative is a new revenue opportunity for our members to help them keep staff employed, and fulfills an important need for Canberrans during this time of distress.”
Phil said there are flow-on effects from the downturn in the hospitality industry, which may put other industries in crisis.
“It’s not just hospitality workers being stood down which is heartbreaking in itself,” he said. “It’s the whole chain: suppliers, printers, designers, all those industries we rely on ourselves as customers. If we want to recover from this situation, we need to keep our suppliers alive as well.”
While there are ten dark kitchens so far operating across Canberra to service No Biggie Meals, Phil expects more to join in the coming days. No Biggie Meals are available for pre-order and future subscriptions, not only providing nutritious meals but supporting the local hospitality venues trying to survive the current situation.
Orders must be placed by midnight on Sundays and will be ready to collect the following Wednesday from your nominated venue.
No Biggie Meals is also looking for more hospitality partners and can be contacted by venues through the website.
Place your orders at No Biggie Meals and follow No Biggie Meals on Facebook.
Original Article published by Sharon Kelley on The RiotACT.