Leading food delivery service Deliveroo Singapore today announced its new sustainability partnership with Singapore startup barePack to offer customers a returnable container system where customers can elect to use reusable containers for delivery and pick-up orders from over 50 best-loved restaurants across Singapore.
Deliveroo customers can enjoy their meals in a sustainable way by looking for the “barePack” option in the Deliveroo app. Customers can then select from barePack’s reusable boxes and cups – FlexBox or KindCup – when placing their food orders. To ensure that the containers are safe for food use, barePack’s boxes are made from food-grade silicone and come with BPA-free polypropylene lids, while cups are made from stainless steel. Participating restaurants include large chains and family favourites such as Spizza, SaladStop! and Real Food.
The new in-app feature will be available for both barePack members and non-members. Existing barePack members can order their food in reusable containers for free on Deliveroo by entering a One-Time Password (OTP) provided in their barePack app. For non-members, the reusable containers are available with a refundable deposit of S$6. Deposits will be refunded when customers return the box to any of the 100 restaurants in the barePack network, half of which are on the Deliveroo platform, across the city.
barePack’s returnable container system not only leads to less unnecessary waste but also enables a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the most commonly used disposable alternatives. According to barePack, reusable products when used 50 times has a significantly positive impact on global warming potential. With the initiative, Deliveroo hopes to combat rising disposable packaging waste in the city-state as a result of movement restrictions, especially during the circuit breaker period.
“As a socially responsible company, we are committed to helping our restaurant partners become more sustainable. We also want to encourage customers to make environmentally friendly choices. We believe amazing food shouldn’t cost the earth and our partnership with barePack marks the latest efforts in our mission to bring customers amazing food in the most sustainable way. We made plastic cutlery an opt-in in 2018, resulting in over 90% of meals now being delivered without disposable cutlery. We are confident that our customers will welcome this new feature and help us foster a reusable takeaway culture in Singapore,” said Sarah Tan, General Manager, Deliveroo Singapore.
“barePack’s reusable containers are kinder for the planet, better for your food, and safer for your health. We are committed to replacing the millions of disposables used for F&B consumption every day, and this partnership with Deliveroo will go a long way in helping us reach a wider audience and achieve our goals. Great collaborations such as this are really key to achieving a more circular economy,” said Roxane Uzureau, Co-Founder of barePack.
To ensure the health and safety of customers in light of COVID-19, Deliveroo and barePack have also implemented stringent safety protocols, ensuring that barePack’s reusable containers are collected away from the serving area and batch processed with used crockery. A new sanitised box or cup will also be issued to customers who purchase any of barePack reusable containers, thereby complying with standard vendor health and safety processes and regulations.
Deliveroo Singapore’s partnership with barePack is part of the company’s ongoing commitment towards sustainability. Initiatives over the past 12 months include a partnership with BioPak, where Deliveroo offered sustainable packaging options to all restaurant partners with discounts to help them make the easy switch to eco-friendly packaging. Deliveroo has also signed the WWF’s (World Wide Fund for Nature) PACT (Plastic ACTion) pledge, committing to encouraging consumer behaviour change as well as restaurant partners to improve their packaging materials.