by Hendy Hermawan, December 7, 2020

In this quarter, a class that I was still able to take on ground was the Kendall Dining Room Production and Service. In the service class, we had the opportunity to discuss and imagine how trends would look like in the future especially with Covid-19 moving on forward. How dining would change and evolve, but a particular subject caught my eye. It was deliveries. We live in a world where now more than ever; we can have food sent to our homes with a click of a button. So many food delivery apps are available to choose from, all wanting your business going to them.

In recent years, the demand for food delivery services such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates just to name a few have risen in popularity but with Covid-19 thrown into the mix, the use of these apps has skyrocketed and I got interested in what the future of delivery and other aspects connected to it especially packing technology.

There is a company called Zume’s Pizza Pod for example, where a Stanford graduate rethought and redesigned what a pizza box can be. She aims to create a pizza packaging where it solves the issue of cold, soggy pizza arriving at your doorsteps while also bringing positive change for the environment by using materials such as sugarcane which is biodegradable.

R&D is being done not only on food packaging but also on food delivery bags such as the ones that drivers and bikers carry with them. Improvements are constantly being made in aspects such as breathability as to not trap moisture and making food soggy faster, sturdiness and element proofing to prevent exterior impact or even different designs of delivery bags based on the types of food all a means to an end which is a better experience for the paying customer at the end.

While these things may sound trivial in the grand scheme of things in a guest’s experience of dining from home, I believe it is still a matter that requires thought and attention to any leaders in the industry. With how large food delivery has become and the continued expansion, these decisions on what and how foods will be delivered will naturally come up if plans for keeping up with the trends and changes to the food industry are going to be met.

References

1. Zume Pizza ‘Pizza Pod’ – by Julia Collins / Core77 Design Awards. (2017). Retrieved 7 December 2020, from https://designawards.core77.com/Packaging/62804/Zume-Pizza-Pizza-Pod
2. Insulated Food Delivery Bags Buying Guide. Retrieved 7 December 2020, from https://www.webstaurantstore.com/guide/738/insulated-food-delivery-bags-buying-guide.html