In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, tech startup Vinder has started making low-cost, no-contact food deliveries around Austin three days a week using surplus goods from local restaurants.
Vinder was originally launched as an online farmers’ market, providing a space where local farmers, bakers and grocers could sell their goods. But last month’s shelter-in-place order inspired founder and CEO Sam Lillie to allow local restaurants to also use the site to sell their perishable goods. The initiative officially launched on March 20.
“Restaurants started shutting down, and grocery stores started running out of staples,” Lillie told Spectrum News. “We thought what are ways that we can get this food right back to the consumer, the population, while still providing a way for the restaurants to make a little extra cash during this downtime. And so we were able to open up the platform to restaurants so that they can sell staples like flour or milk or eggs that are high in demand right now.”
Vinder picks up these products from vendors on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and then drops them off directly at the consumers’ doors, charging them just $1 for the delivery.
So far, the service has been well received by Austin residents. Lillie told Spectrum News the company received two months’ worth of sales in 24 hours.
Vinder launched in 2017 and is an alumnus of the Mass Challenge Texas accelerator program as well as a 2018 finalist for SXSW’s Food+City Challenge Prize.
The startup says it is currently seeking volunteers to help deliver goods to customers as well as restaurants who are interested in selling any surplus goods they have on hand.
