'Indie Eats' service taking off in Sudbury
A new food delivery service in Greater Sudbury designed to help patrons support local eateries is making waves.
It's called Indie Eats. Right now it's only a website, but work is underway to turn it into a smartphone app. The goal is to provide lower fees to Sudbury-area restaurants while also supporting drivers.
The service is only being made available to independent restaurants. It's the brainchild of three restaurants: Di Gusto, P&M Kouzzina and MIC.
"So we tried to figure out how to bring the service to independent restaurants where they can actually make a dollar and customers are paying reasonable fees," said Chuck Barbeau, owner of DiGusto.
"The chain restaurants get cut rates, these little mom and pop restaurants don't get cut rates from the big guys. But we offer a sustainable number. The other avenue or other thing we want to talk about here is on the drivers' side. We want to make sure our drivers' have sustainable wages."
Matt Moutsatsos and Justin Chaumont are managers at P&M Kouzzina. To them, it just made sense.
"We didn't have delivery before and it's been exciting for us, it's been exciting for the customers who are able to get our food delivered to them because that is the new way of doing things," said Moutsatsos.
"Everyone is busy, everyone needs convenience and time so we can offer that now, which is exciting for us. It also provided a great way for us to bridge the gap for this lockdown for a lot of our staff."
So far it's been a big hit with customers. They've since expanded to nine local restaurants and they have others that are currently signing up.
They plan to keep it in Sudbury for now to see how it goes, but if it takes off, they're hopeful residents could soon start seeing it across northern Ontario.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Gunman kills at least 19 children at Texas elementary school
An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 19 children as he went from classroom to classroom, officials said, in the latest gruesome moment for a country scarred by a string of massacres. The attacker was killed by law enforcement.

Biden makes urgent call for new firearms restrictions after Texas school shooting
Lamenting a uniquely American tragedy, an anguished and angry U.S. President Joe Biden delivered an urgent call for new restrictions on firearms Tuesday night after a gunman shot and killed 19 children at a Texas elementary school.
Language law Bill 96 adopted, promising sweeping changes for Quebec
Bill 96, the provincial government's controversial legislation aimed at protecting the French language in Quebec, has been adopted in the National Assembly.
U.S. senator begs for gun compromise after Texas shooting
Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who came to Congress representing Sandy Hook, begged his colleagues to finally pass legislation addressing the nation's gun violence problem as the latest school shooting unfolded Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas.
Society 'may not survive' Putin's war, says billionaire George Soros
Russia's invasion of Ukraine may have marked the start of "a third world war," and Russian President Vladimir Putin must be defeated "as soon as possible" if the world wants to preserve civilization, said billionaire and philanthropist George Soros.
Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard denies rape allegations at sex assault trial
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has emphatically denied raping a teenager and a young woman nearly six years ago, testifying Tuesday that both encounters were consensual and "passionate."
Many Ontario residents could be waiting several days for power after storm
Provincial provider Hydro One said Tuesday afternoon that more than 142,000 customers in parts of Ontario were still without power after a devastating weekend storm.
RCMP suspend flights at Victoria International Airport after suspicious package discovered
Travellers who have a flight planned at Victoria International Airport (YYJ) on Tuesday afternoon are being warned of travel disruptions due to police activity.
Canada sending more artillery to Ukraine, 'crucial' to fight against Russia: Anand
Canada is sending an additional 20,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine for the Ukrainian military to use in its ongoing defence against the Russians. This ammunition—155mm calibre, as well as fuses and charge bags—is being donated, but comes at a cost of $98 million, according to the federal government.