Stop delivery app companies from charging predatory commissions to San Francisco restaurants
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
With COVID-19 devastating San Francisco small businesses all over the City, our restaurants face an overwhelming crisis. Recent surveys have shown that 80% of restaurants have laid off staff, and that 60% of open restaurants are losing money. It is unsafe for customers to dine indoors, and outdoor dining is not enough to support these businesses. That's why neighborhood eateries rely on food delivery services to make money.
Unfortunately, four food delivery apps control 98% of the food delivery market. These app-based companies, like Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Postmates, use their market power to charge high commissions to restaurants, as much of 30% of the cost of each order. Restaurants who sign up with these companies are prohibited from passing delivery costs to customers. This puts our small businesses in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma: sign predatory contracts which leach money from customers' orders—or be locked out of the food delivery market.
Mayor Breed has signed an emergency order capping commissions, but it's only temporary, and it's not enough. If we want our small businesses to survive, we need major action. Recently, Supervisor Peskin introduced a bill to cap fees on restaurants and allow them to offset delivery costs. Restaurant and bar associations support this bill, but the delivery apps are pushing back. As San Francisco residents, we need to tell Supervisor Peskin and the Board of Supervisors that we stand by our small businesses. Please sign this petition to send that message.
Sincerely,
Robert Fruchtman
Lower Haight resident
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San Francisco Board of Supervisors
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[Your Name]
San Francisco Board of Supervisors:
As you are well aware, COVID-19 is inflicting great economic harm on our small businesses and local restaurants. Eighty percent of eateries have laid off staff, and 60% of those still open are losing money. In potentially life-threatening operating conditions, restaurants must rely on outdoor dining and takeout for income.
Unfortunately, four food delivery apps control up to 98% of the market. A recent San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency showed that 80% of restaurants work with delivery apps. These food delivery apps—DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats—force restaurants to sign predatory contracts if they want their food to reach customers. Some businesses must pay delivery apps a 30% commission on customers' orders—and they are not allowed to adjust their prices to recoup that costs. This behavior is unacceptable.
On April 10, 2020, Mayor Breed supplemented her Proclamation of Local Emergency with a Declaration which temporarily caps food delivery commissions at 15% of order totals. On April 21, Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced File #200398, an ordinance to permanently cap food delivery commissions at 10% and allow restaurants to set their own delivery prices.
This bill is sponsored by Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Ahsha Safaí, Rafael Mandelman, and Shamann Walton. We applaud these supervisors and their staff as they work to protect San Francisco's small businesses—and the Small Business Commission agrees. On July 2, 2020, the commission voted to endorse File #200398 as written.
While the bill makes its way toward a committee hearing in the Board of Supervisors, it has the strong support of the undersigned. We urge the Board to support the intent and implementation of this bill.