Currently, global society experiences a significant rise in environmental concerns. Surveys demonstrate that up to 77% percent are concerned with the damage human activity deals to the Earth (Lampert, 2020). Many people in the US and abroad care about how the products they consume affect the environment during production and how they are recycled. At the same time, food delivery services experienced explosive demand during the pandemic due to restaurant closedown and self-isolation period (Research and Markets, 2020). Since the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic is very likely to occur in the US, it will provide another opportunity for food delivery services to prosper (Pounds, 2020). Thus, the present paper proposes setting up an eco-delivery service that delivers eco-friendly food with minimal damage to the environment.
The new service will have two central features that will differentiate it from the competitors. First, it will deliver only food that does minimal damage to the environment. This notion concerns both the ingredients and the packaging. The business will attempt to use zero plastic during cooking and delivery since plastic recycling is one of the central environmental concerns. This will require to use of innovative materials, especially for the delivery of drinks. If the service is forced to use some plastic packaging, it will all be recyclable. Additionally, instructions will be provided about how the packaging can be recycled with minimal harm to the environment. The new delivery service will deliver only plant-based foods and drinks. According to Swain et al. (2018), livestock farming takes up to a third of the land, which is associated with deforestation, decreased biodiversity, and high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. This implies that the delivery service will need to partner with destructors of plant-based meat, milk, and cheese.
Second, the proposed business will utilize eco-friendly means of food delivery. This implies that the food will be delivered using bicycles, public transportation, electric bikes, and electric cars. Additionally, all the products will be delivered to the kitchen by the local producers when possible to minimize the impact of delivery on the environment. The two features will need to be heavily marketed to exploit the advantages, as the proposed business will not be able to compete based on price.
It is critical to notice that eco-delivery does not necessarily sell healthy food, as plant-based substitutes have increased amounts of sodium. At the same time, it is crucial not to market the new business as vegetarian/vegan food delivery, even though it delivers only plant-based food and drinks. The reason for that is the fact that such a marketing campaign may exclude meat-eaters from the target audience, which would be harmful to sales.
When developing the proposal, I plan to use the latest data to promote data-driven decision-making. First, I will use the data about climate change and other environmental problems provided by ourworldindata.org to convince the investors that addressing environmental concerns is crucial for sustainable development. Second, I will utilize the information provided by statista.com to conduct market research and find information about the key trends and competitors. Finally, I will use SpyFu to monitor my competitors and develop the most effective e-marketing strategy. The source list, however, will extend and change as the project progresses.
References
Lampert, M. (2020). Global rise in environmental concern. Glocalities. Web.
Pounds, J. (2020). U.S. markets to take hit as second wave occurs like is happening now in Europe, Bernstein says. CNBC. Web.
Research and Markets. (2020). Demand for food delivery explodes during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers self-isolate and restaurants close down. PR Newswire. Web.
Swain, M., Blomqvist, L., McNamara, J., & Ripple, W. J. (2018). Reducing the environmental impact of global diets. Science of the Total Environment, 610-611, 1207–1209.