Business Opportunity: Safe grocery delivery

A lot of small business owners are worried about sitting idle and want to be working. However, in times like these, how about pivoting and temporarily fulfilling a much-needed service: safe food delivery?

I've been practicing self-isolation like the rest of the world, but I've been worried about the safety of grocery shopping for all of us. 

Originally, I thought how lucky it is that online grocery shopping and delivery was available in most major cities; however, I quickly found that it's nearly impossible to get an order in at any of the grocery stores here in Sarasota.

A quick check on the Walmart Facebook page showed me that this seems to be a hit-or-miss problem.  It seems to be working well in some places, but many places seem to just have a higher demand than they can handle.   Even if I could get an order in, I wouldn't want to take the place of someone who might need the spot more than me.

I went ahead and risked going to the store, wearing protective gloves and trying to follow the physical distance rules, but there were a lot of shoppers and workers, so it was pretty difficult.  

Of course, I'm very grateful for all those who are working so that we all can still eat, and I know there's a shortage of protective gear, even for medical staff, but I was surprised that none of the cashiers or stockers were wearing gloves or masks and they are being surrounded by crowds of people all day long! Many of these workers were older, so I was especially surprised to see them still working as usual, without even gloves.

I'm also so grateful for the kindness of people who offer to do grocery shopping for the elderly; however, it seems that many people aren't realizing that everyone is risking getting and spreading the virus when they go to the stores.  People keep acting as though young people with no symptoms are immune, rather than realizing that we all take the risk of spreading it, even if we're not afraid of dying from it.

I've been pondering how we might be able to solve this problem and have thought about trying to organize neighborhood volunteer groups like Zoomers to Boomers.  They have a thorough safety policy outlining how to handle the groceries.  I'm not sure how they're able to obtain the face masks and protective gear, but it is at least reassuring that they are taking safety seriously and seem to have some gear.

Quite honestly, I wouldn't want to be responsible for sending volunteers out.  I think it's too big of a risk.  Whoever does this, as well as all of those grocery workers, and all the people who are out working, deserve to be protected and well-paid.  

As a consumer, I would certainly pay and tip well for this service and I'm sure many others would, but it's just not available now.

UberEats is another alternative that's available for me here in Sarasota, so check out that option if you're running low on food or you want to treat yourself to a night off cooking.

However you get your food, please also follow the tips in this video to make sure that food is safe: