PremiumNEW DELHI: Westlife Development Ltd., which operates McDonald’s outlets in southern and western India, has said that select stores in Mumbai will operate till 03:00am for contactless delivery. This follows a Maharashtra government’s order allowing 24x7 food deliveries across the state, currently under a partial lockdown.
The brand will double down on its convenience channels of McDelivery, takeaways and on-the-go, as Maharashtra has announced new set of restrictions to arrest the surge in covid-19 infections, the fast-food chain said in a statement on Friday.
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“The last year has reset consumer expectations and they now seek safe and convenient ways of engaging with the brands they trust. We have been able to cater to our customers’ demand through our omni-channel strategy making McDonald’s food available for consumers wherever, whenever and however they want," Saurabh Kalra, chief operating officer, McDonald’s India West and South.
Organised fast food chains have benefited in the wake of nationwide lockdown, imposed last year to curb the spread of the pandemic, as most have a robust delivery ecosystem both in-house, as well as through food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato.
Though brands such as Domino's and McDonald's took a hit on their dine-in business, a strong delivery network helped them contain losses due to poor footfalls at stores.
Westlife Development Ltd has announced vaccination cover for all its 10,000 employees which include both its corporate office employees as well as the McDonald’s restaurant staff. The company is covering the cost of both doses of the vaccination and is also facilitating its administration across cities in western and southern India, it said.
The company has also enabled RT-PCR testing for all non-vaccinated employees including its riders, as directed by the Maharashtra government in its 4 April order.
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Premium Premium The move comes as restaurant associations had sought longer delivery hours for food services firms after the state government clamped down on dine-in services. Restaurants have been directed to open only for delivery and takeaways but till 8 pm. However, in another order dated 7 April, the state government enabled home delivery of food and essentials through all online service providers Zomato and Swiggy permitting them to operate all hours of the week.
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