Skip the Dishes adds booze to delivery menu

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This article was published 22/08/2017 (3311 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Can the driver get you something from the bar?

Winnipeggers are now able to get beer, fine wine and grape-based spirits delivered straight to their doors through the Skip the Dishes app, the locally based tech company announced Tuesday.

“With over a million meals delivered in Winnipeg, it made perfect sense to add liquor to our network. We’ve got some pretty big names on board,” company co-founder Andrew Chau said.

Alcohol from several local vendors, including De Luca Fine Wines, the Fort Garry Brewing Company, the Kenaston Wine Market, Shrugging Doctor Brewing Company, the Pembina Hotel, Calabria Market & Wine Store, Ellement Fine Wines and Spirits, One Great City Brewing and Torque Brewing, among others, are now a click away, with deliveries available between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily.

In the coming weeks, the company expects to add more liquor retailers to their roster, and Chau said they’ll look into expanding delivery hours.

In June, Skip the Dishes launched a pilot liquor delivery program in Vancouver, and Chau said the experiment’s results were better than expected.

“Based on the uptake from Vancouver, we expect Winnipeg to do just as well, if not better,” he said, adding the company is preparing for a rollout in other Canadian and American markets in the coming months.

“Winnipeggers have been asking to get a bottle of wine or beer with their takeout, and now you can get both delivered within the SkipTheDishes app,” he said.

Since launching in 2013, the company has gained a strong stake in the app-based food-delivery business, and is now operating in more than 40 North American cities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Regina, Saskatoon and Ottawa, along with Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and St. Louis. In 2016, the company was purchased by U.K.-based Just Eat for about $200 million.

To order alcohol or food from more than 400 restaurants and liquor retailers, customers must download the app or visit the company’s website to get a list of options. Customers must be of legal age and provide ID to use the liquor service. Delivery fees start at $3.49.

Other stores around the city, including Manitoba Liquor Marts, offer same-day home delivery service; Liquor Marts charge $7.55 for any order up to an entire case, and 80 cents for each additional bottle or case, plus five per cent GST.

A spokeswoman for the Manitoba Liquor and Gaming Authority said the Liquor and Gaming Control Act authorizes local retailers to deliver liquor to customers or partner with firms such as Skip the Dishes to deliver on their behalf. Service licensees, such as restaurants and lounges, are not legally allowed to deliver liquor.

Any Skip the Dishes drivers delivering alcohol will be trained in accordance with the province’s Smart Choices program, launched in January, and required of any liquor service or retail staff in Manitoba, Chau said.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca