What happened when Monique Powell got tired of only being able to order pizza at her desk? She not only conceptualised QuickPlate but you can, just like your Uber driver, track the arrival…

Thursday Food (TF): What, exactly, is QuickPlate?

Monique Powell (MP): QuickPlate allows people to order online from many of their favourite restaurants and have the food delivered right to their doorsteps.

TF: What prompted this initiative?

MP: As someone who used to frequently work late hours and would have no interest in cooking by the time I got home, I realised that if you wanted to order food for delivery you were more or less limited to pizza. There were a few courier services that would do meal pick-ups if you asked, but typically you could only pay with cash and they wouldn’t usually be able to give you realistic delivery time estimates. That, coupled with the fact that there was no way of tracking the order or delivery person, pretty much meant that you’d have no idea whether the food would take 45 minutes or two hours to arrive. Out of that personal frustration came the idea for QuickPlate.

TF: How long has QuickPlate been in operation?

MP: Almost 10 months (we launched at the end of March 2016).

TF: Walk us through the ordering process

MP: Ordering is done via our website at www.myquickplate.com. Once customers enter their address on our homepage, they’re shown the list of restaurants that fall within their delivery zone. They can then choose a restaurant, select the items they want to order and then check out and pay either with a credit card (online payment) or with any Multilink debit card (swipe on delivery). The customers are then kept informed via status notifications and are also able to track the delivery rider on a map in real time. That tracking link will also provide the customers with an ETA.

For further details, e-mail us at info@myquickplate.com or give us a call at 631-5533.

TF: What has the response been, to date?

MP: The response has been great. People love the convenience of being able to order from their favourite restaurants without having to leave where they are, and our commitment to customer service really makes a difference in terms of how people feel about using the service. To date, we’ve served over 1,000 customers and have delivered close to 5,000 orders.

TF: Are there any more initiatives for the restaurant industry?

MP: We’re continually improving and have plans to roll out some innovative in-restaurant technology later this year. We can’t say much at this point, but we expect these innovations to lead to greater efficiency which will in turn lead to even faster delivery times and an even smoother ordering process for our customers.

TF: How do you gauge customer response and experience?

MP: We closely monitor the sentiment towards our brand on social media and also pay close attention to the feedback our customers send directly to us.