Mumbaiwala is the latest local business to join the e-commerce platform.
Supporting local businesses has never been more crucial, particularly when it comes to the hard-hit hospitality sector. Now, food delivery service DoorDash is making it much easier for Kiwis to do just that, delivering dishes, gifts, and convenience items direct to diners’ doors in Wellington and Christchurch.
The popular on-demand local delivery platform connects consumers with their favourite businesses across the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany and, since May this year, New Zealand. Since its launch in Christchurch and Wellington, DoorDash has proved to be an invaluable service for local restaurants without the capacity to deliver food themselves, providing the infrastructure for them to meet customers’ needs in the most convenient way possible.
One local business owner reaping the rewards of joining DoorDash’s extensive database is Anup Nathu, who owns Mumbaiwala, the popular Christchurch eatery that expanded to Auckland this year. (Viva’s dining out editor Jesse Mulligan described the Indian street food restaurant as a brilliant addition to the Ponsonby neighbourhood, with “simply wonderful” food.)
Anup and his wife Sadhana Nathu have been part of the Christchurch hospitality scene for more than 25 years, having founded the city’s first Indian takeaways, Tandoori Palace, in 1990. After expanding to multiple outlets across Christchurch and the South Island, damage to several of their Canterbury restaurants in the Christchurch earthquakes forced them to rethink their strategy. They decided to use the change as an opportunity to bring something new to the region.
A trip to see their daughter in London (and a great visit to popular London eatery Dishoom) left them inspired to bring the best of Mumbai street food to the Christchurch CBD, and in 2016 they opened Mumbaiwala, one of the first new restaurants back in the central city after the rebuild. Noting that the people of Christchurch have been very kind to them over the years, Anup and Sadhana wanted to play their part in reviving the city.
While Anup has tried at times to coordinate the delivery of food himself, the reality is that it is an entirely separate business model in its own right and a resource- and time-extensive operation for small, locally owned restaurants. When it is too difficult to do alone, DoorDash takes the responsibility away from small businesses so they can focus on creating the food and the dining in experience they pride themselves on.
Anup says the beauty of DoorDash is that Mumbaiwala staff have the ability to control the flow of orders from their kitchen — meaning they can accept fewer orders during busy dine-in periods. Having the ability to manage orders themselves is crucial.
“DoorDash prides itself on being a platform by and for people,” says Rebecca Burrows, DoorDash General Manager Australia and New Zealand. “We have people on the ground that mean our customers and merchants have the support they need to know their deliveries are in hand — so they can focus on what is important to them.”
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Advertise with NZME.While the focus has always been (and will continue to be) dine in, Anup says he has noticed a significant growth in the demand for online, delivery, and click-and-collect orders that was accelerated by Covid. And as people want to support businesses in their local neighbourhood more and more, DoorDash is the perfect connection between the two.
“As DoorDash expands across New Zealand, we look forward to helping more locally owned businesses connect with their customers,” says Rebecca Burrows.
“We’ve been overwhelmed at the positive response we’ve had from locals and businesses in Wellington and Christchurch, and can’t wait to facilitate more connections and deliveries across the country in 2023.”
To discover the range of local eateries available on DoorDash, visit doordash.com/en-NZ
