Today at 11 a.m., UberEATS will be launching its app in Gainesville — the first college town in Florida to use the company’s food delivery service.
Stemming from the original Uber app, which is used to transport people to and from specific locations, UberEATS will be a separate app where drivers can deliver food to anyone anywhere in Gainesville.
JP Restrepo, the general manager of UberEATS Florida, said launching UberEATS in Gainesville was part of a widespread initiative to expand the company to cities in Florida.
Since Gainesville is a college town, Restrepo said Uber has a strong presence and is known for its reliability and affordability, making it a top choice for food delivery.
“We’re very confident that this is going to be a very good market and place for UberEATS,” he said.
Restrepo said UberEATS allows customers to see a restaurant’s full menu and has a flat-rate delivery fee of $4.99.
He added UberEATS has a shorter wait time than other delivery companies, averaging about 35 minutes, and it operates 24/7.
“The user gets to track the order as well, from the moment they put in the order on the app,” Restrepo said.
Although Uber and UberEATS are two separate apps, he said customers and drivers can use the same account for both.
“In addition to transporting passengers, you’re also going to have the ability to deliver food if you’d like,” Restrepo said.
Javier Correoso, the public affairs manager for Uber Florida, said UberEATS is focused on adding a variety of food options to their list of restaurants, particularly local places.
Popular food chains, such as BurgerFi and Moe’s Southwest Grill, will always be available to customers. However, Correoso said the company is working on adding more local places to their app.
While Uber has a well-known name, UberEATS is going to face competition in the Gainesville area with delivery companies that have already established a reputation, such as Bite Squad.
Craig Key, the vice president of marketing for Bite Squad, said he is confident it will continue to prosper even with the presence of UberEATS.
He said although Bite Squad came to Gainesville in February, the city has become one of the company’s best markets.
“It went from our newest market to one of our top performing markets in just a matter of a few months,” Key said.
Key said there will be a percent of the population who use UberEATS. However, he said while they might see a little blip on the radar, he knows customers will be able to see a clear difference in superiority.
“Our focus has been less about the competition, and it’s just been more about stepping up with right drivers, having great restaurants in Gainesville … and the rest kind of works itself out,” Key said.
UF telecommunication senior Caitlin Allweiss, who likes to use delivery services when she doesn’t feel like driving to Southwest Archer Road, said she’s interested to see how competition between the two will play out.
Allweiss, 21, said before Bite Squad came to town earlier this year, she used services like 352 Delivery, Gainesville2Go, Doorstep Delivery and 2 Dollar Delivery.
Now, she uses Bite Squad about five times a month to order food from restaurants including Bento, Zoe’s Kitchen and SweetBerries.
Although a loyal Bite Squad customer, Allweiss said she’s heard nothing but good things about UberEATS and will most likely try it in the future.
“If UberEATS is cheaper and faster, I think it’ll probably do better than Bite Squad,” she said.
