Cape Town Outfit Gives the Poor Access to Food Delivery during SA’s Lockdown

Yebo Fresh, the one-of-a-kind online retailer born out of the ashes of those fires, gives its 1,000 clients (and counting) across seven informal settlements in Cape Town the chance to enjoy twice-weekly grocery deliveries. With prices comparable to those in brick-and-mortar stores and no delivery fee on large orders, the service is saving women as much as $7 in public transport costs per order and freeing up entire Saturdays that would previously have been spent scouring the city for the best deals. COVID-19-inspired State of Disaster has forced Yebo Fresh’s business model to the test sooner than planned. The company now operates from a warehouse near the airport and eight of the core team of 10 actually live in the communities it serves. It also combines low and high tech seamlessly. Orders can be completed on old-fashioned paper checklists taken from door-to-door sales agents, via WhatsApp or through a conventional website — but they’re all digitized and synced with a payment gateway. Most customers prefer to pay upon receipt, using debit cards or cash.

SOURCE: OZY