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Seattle restaurant owner launches own delivery service
After years of pushing the city of Seattle to change delivery laws, one local restaurant is ditching third-party apps entirely and launching its own in-house delivery service to escape the sky-high fees.
SEATTLE - Food delivery can come with a hefty price tag in Seattle. After years of pushing the city to change delivery laws, Spice Waala owner Uttam Mukherjee is trying a different approach: starting his own delivery service.
Called Yaku, the service is launching with a neighborhood focus, employee drivers and a flat $10 delivery fee.
Rising costs prompt a new approach
The backstory:
Mukherjee said his business has used delivery platforms including DoorDash, Uber Eats, Caviar, Postmates and Grubhub. But he said Seattle’s "PayUp" minimum pay requirements for app-based delivery workers brought a sharp change in 2024.
"Revenue fell 50% on the delivery companies the second it went into effect," said Mukherjee.
For a restaurant built around affordable Indian street food, he said the cost of ordering through delivery apps has become a problem.
"Food that should cost you $10-15 in the restaurant now costs you $40 dollars in the apps," he said. "It just doesn’t make sense our food is not worth forty dollars."
Kitchen in Seattle
How Yaku works
Dig deeper:
Mukherjee’s solution takes its name from an animal.
"Yaks are known to be good delivery animals," he said.
The meals, however, will arrive with hired drivers. Mukherjee said Yaku’s drivers will be employees rather than workers paid by the order.
"So they’re not getting paid by order. They’re getting paid to be available four hours, eight hours whatever that is," he explained.
The service will charge a flat $10 delivery fee, with restaurant choices limited to the customer’s neighborhood. Right now they are only serving Ballard.
"You will not be able to see any restaurants outside your neighborhood when we open neighborhoods," clarified Mukherjee.
Yaku food app
Starting in Ballard
What's next:
Yaku currently has five Ballard restaurants on its platform, according to Mukherjee. They include Ballard Pizza Company and Rachel’s Bagels & Burritos.
The service is also signing up additional restaurants this week.
Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Lauren Donovan.