Delivery service fee cap not enough for some Regina restaurants

The provincial government’s cap on delivery fees from apps like Skip the Dishes isn’t enough for some local restaurants.

The Saskatchewan government said March 24 those delivery services can’t charge more than 18 per cent of the pre-PST order price of a meal. On Wednesday, the government introduced legislation that extends that cap until Aug. 31.

However, some restaurant owners still think it isn’t financially realistic to use those apps.

Maria Kolitsas Lang, the owner of Golf’s Steak House in Regina, said the restaurant’s profit margins are too thin to use those services and survive, even with the capped fee.

“Our bottom lines are so slim to begin with. During this last year with COVID, we are operating in the red. When you start implementing those services to think that you need to stay up with the market, you’re almost basically giving your food away,” she said.

Her restaurant does not use any third-party delivery apps. Instead, her family members deliver food orders.

“My daughter delivers, my husband delivers and my son delivers if we need a delivery. We’re doing some pickup (by customers), too,” she explained. “(It’s) definitely way easier to do it ourselves.”

She said profit margins for restaurants tend to hover at around the 15 per cent mark.

“(If) you’re giving that sales figure away at 18 per cent, you’re actually operating in the hole, then,” she said. “So there’s no point to implement that delivery service.”

Thomas Siarkos, the owner of Memories Fine Dining in Regina, agrees.

“I don’t think (the cap) matters. It’s still 18 per cent … We don’t use (third-party delivery services); we will never use them,” he said.

“It’s time to get rid of all these expensive companies like Skip the Dishes. They’re making a lot of money on our behalf and we don’t even see a fraction of that profit … Even with the cap … if you ask most of the restaurants, their profitability is basically between 10 and 15 per cent. When you give away 18 per cent, what is there left for you?”

His restaurant is also running its own delivery. Dining rooms are currently closed in Regina thanks to COVID-related public health measures.

Siarkos is employing his waiting staff as delivery drivers in the meantime.