00:00Canuck Eats pivots from local delivery operator to Canada's first real-time food delivery price
00:05comparison platform. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canuck Eats Incorporated, the Canadian food
00:11delivery company, founded in 2020 on the premise that every Canadian community deserves access
00:17to great local food, today announced a significant strategic pivot. The company is repositioning
00:23itself from a direct food delivery operator to Canada's first live price comparison platform
00:29for restaurant delivery. The new Canuck Eats, available now at canuckheats.com, shows Canadian
00:35consumers the exact price they would pay for every menu item on DoorDash and Uber Eats, crossed out
00:42beside the Canuck Eats price. Shoppers can compare costs on thousands of dishes across hundreds of
00:47restaurants before placing an order without switching between apps or doing the math themselves.
00:52In internal testing across live cities, Canuck Eats found prices up to 43% lower than what the
00:58same meal costs on the major platforms. Canadians are paying a hidden tax every time they order
01:04delivery, and most don't know it, said Theos, co-founder of Canuck Eats. The big apps have trained
01:10people to think delivery just costs what it costs. We're pulling back the curtain. When you can see
01:15the crossed-out DoorDash price right next to ours on every single item, the difference isn't abstract
01:21anymore. It's your money right in front of you. From Merritt's Main Street to a national mission,
01:26Canuck Eats began in July 2020 when Theos launched a food delivery service in Merritt,
01:31British Columbia, a small city in the Nicola Valley with no access to major delivery apps.
01:37What started as a hyper-local solution to a community problem quickly expanded into a franchise
01:42model, growing to serve cities across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
01:49Along the way, the company attracted coverage from The Globe and Mail, The Financial Post,
01:54The Associated Press, and Yahoo Finance, and was recognized as one of Canada's top marketing
01:59startups by Best Startup Canada. In 2023, Canuck Eats announced its intent to acquire the assets
02:06of FiestaFi, a fellow pioneer in rural Canadian food delivery, signaling an ambition to serve
02:12the underserved communities that the Ubers and DoorDashes of the world have always overlooked.
02:18But as the company scaled, a more urgent problem came into focus.
02:22Even in cities where DoorDash and Uber Eats did operate, Canadians were systematically overpaying,
02:28often without knowing it. We kept hearing from customers that they assumed all delivery apps
02:33charged roughly the same, said Theos. That's exactly what the big platforms want you to think.
02:39The reality is that markups, service fees, and inflated menu prices vary wildly.
02:45We decided our most valuable move wasn't to compete delivery for delivery. It was to give Canadians
02:52to make a smarter choice. How the platform works. The redesigned Canuck Eats platform operates as a
02:58live aggregator and price comparison engine. When a user visits CanuckEats.com and selects their city,
03:05they see every restaurant available for delivery in that area, sourced in real time. On each
03:11restaurant's menu page, every item displays two prices, the Canuck Eats price, and the crossed-out
03:17competitor price from DoorDash or Uber Eats. The comparison is item level, not basket level.
03:23Canadians can see exactly where the savings are, whether it's a $3 markup on a butter chicken
03:29entree, a $2 premium on a Big Mac, or a $5 difference on a sushi combo. The platform covers
03:35hundreds of cities coast-to-coast, from Victoria, British Columbia to Halifax, Nova Scotia,
03:41with new cities added continuously. For restaurants, the pitch is equally compelling.
03:47Canuck Eats lists their menus at a lower commission structure than the major platforms,
03:51meaning more of every order goes back to the restaurant and to the community rather than
03:56to a U.S. headquartered tech company. Pricing transparency as a consumer right. The pivot comes
04:02at a moment when Canadians are acutely sensitive to the cost of everyday living. Food inflation,
04:08platform fee creep, and shrinking household budgets have put delivery spending under the
04:13microscope. A 2024 survey found that a majority of Canadian delivery app users did not know that
04:19restaurant menu prices are often set higher on delivery apps than they are in-person or on
04:25competing platforms. Canuck Eats is positioning price transparency not as a feature, but as a right.
04:31The company's new tagline, same restaurant, lower price, makes the value proposition immediate and
04:37concrete. You are not choosing a different restaurant, a slower courier, or a lesser experience.
04:42You are choosing to pay less for the exact same meal. We're not asking anyone to compromise,
04:48said Theos. Order from the same restaurant you love. Get the same food. Just don't overpay for it.
04:53That's the entire pitch. Community Roots, National Reach. Despite the strategic shift,
04:59Canuck Eats has not abandoned the community-first values that defined its early years.
05:03The company has donated over $2,300 to local food banks and community causes across Canada,
05:10from the Nanaimo Loaves and Fish's Community Food Bank to Edmonton's Food Bank to BC Flood Relief,
05:16and continues to sponsor local sports and community events in the markets it serves.
05:21We started this company because a small town deserved better. That hasn't changed,
05:26said Theos. Now we're fighting for every Canadian who's been quietly overcharged every time.
05:31They wanted a night off from cooking. Canuck Eats is live and accepting orders today at
05:36CanuckEats.com. Coverage spans British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and beyond,
05:44with new cities launching regularly. About Canuck Eats, Canuck Eats Inc. is a Canadian food
05:50technology company founded in 2020 in Merritt, British Columbia. The company operates Canada's
05:56first live food delivery price comparison platform, showing consumers the real-time price difference
06:01between Canuck Eats and major competitors like DoorDash and Uber Eats on every menu item.
06:07Canuck Eats serves hundreds of cities across Canada and is committed to fair pricing,
06:12local restaurant support, and community giving. Canuck Eats has been featured in The Globe and Mail,
06:17The Financial Post, The Associated Press, Yahoo Finance, and more.
06:22For press inquiries, interview requests, or media assets, contact canuckheats.com.
Comments