SACRAMENTO – Legislation by California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) that requires food delivery companies, like DoorDash, Grub Hub, Postmates and Uber Eats, to establish an agreement with restaurants before delivering their food passed the Senate Judiciary Committee today on a 7 to 0 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
“When food delivery companies take advantage of small mom and pop restaurants by delivering their food without permission, it can damage the customer’s experience and the restaurant’s reputation,” Assemblywoman Gonzalez said. “This bill will put the power back in the hands of small restaurant owners by ensuring they have agreed to the delivery arrangement beforehand.”
Consumers began shifting toward the convenience of having food from their favorite restaurant delivered to their home prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Noticing this trend, many restaurants have started to invest in their own delivery systems or rely on third party food delivery platforms. The aggressive emergence of app-based food delivery companies has created significant disruption in the foodservice industry. California restaurant owners have discovered their food offered for delivery to customers without ever agreeing to the service. This can diminish the intended quality of the restaurant’s food, or misinform customers about prices and menu changes.
Assembly Bill 2149, or the Fair Food Delivery Act, requires a food delivery company to obtain the express written consent of a food facility before delivering the business’ food. According to AB 2149, a food delivery company is any online business acting as an intermediary between consumers and multiple food facilities to submit food orders from a consumer to a participating food facility, and to arrange for the delivery of the order from the food facility to the consumer.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez represents California’s 80th Assembly District, located in southern San Diego County, including the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, and National City. She serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Women in the Workplace, and Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus.
For more information on Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez visit https://a80.asmdc.org/
