New Florida law aims to improve transparency, communication for food delivery platforms

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new state law recently signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aims to improve food delivery platforms for the benefit of consumers and restaurants alike.

We all know food delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub costs more than hitting a drive-thru, even before you add in all the service fees, taxes and tip.

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A Big Mac meal at a drive-thru listed for $9.59 will cost you $11.39 using Uber Eats.

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That $5.75 Carmel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino at the Starbucks drive through will run you $6.95 for delivery.

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And consumers have come to expect the mark ups.

“A $10 meal would be like $25 on DoorDash or Uber Eats,” Duval delivery customer Lacie Williams said.

“I’d say like everything is boosted by like at least $10 or more,” Clay County food connoisseur Mary Forrest said.

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But this session lawmakers pushed to make improvements to the delivery experience.

The new law requires food delivery platforms to clearly inform users of the additional fees, taxes, and markups they’ll be paying, protects consumer data, and ensures restaurants are able to directly communicate with delivery customers.

“If it’s taking too long, what’s going to happen is that customer is not going to be upset with the food delivery platform, they’re going to be upset with the restaurant. And we want to make sure that every part of that transaction is positive for the consumer, the delivery platform, and the restaurant,” Samantha Padgett with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association said.

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Padgett explained the new law also requires restaurants give consent before being listed on delivery apps, and that they sign off on any mark ups on their menu.

“Ultimately, the restaurant has to be the one that determines what price they will charge and what item they will serve,” Padgett said.

Padgett noted, many of the major delivery services have already implemented many of the protections outlined in the law, so don’t expect to see any major price changes.

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Padgett argued in some states where caps on delivery and service fees have been set, the result has been some smaller restaurants being priced out of the delivery market, which is why those types of measures were excluded from the legislation.

But she added the reforms will ensure an even playing field, which in turn, will hopefully increase competition and improve customer satisfaction.

“What we were looking for was transparency, consent, protection of consumer information and increased communication between the customer and the restaurant,” Padgett said.

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