CAPE TOWN –
The Covid-19 global pandemic highlighted a gap in various industries, with one of them being the food delivery sector and more so, food delivery in the township.
While mainstream apps and food delivery services operate mainly where they feel is a big enough demand for their services, this opened up the door for smaller companies to fill that gap.
Order Kasi is one of those companies that rose to the challenge and recognised the need for people craved for “township dishes.”
Founder of Order Kasi, Leon Qwabe, said the idea came to him one morning when he woke up craving for a juicy breakfast but was not in the mood to leave the house.
“I wondered why there were no delivery services in the area and when I looked into it I found that most delivery services do not enter township areas due to crime and they did not have enough information to know if it was worth the trouble,” said Qwabe.
“I thought regarding the crime issue, we would use local delivery people who grew up in the area and we will only do online payments to avoid cash.
“And as for the data if it is worth the trouble, I knew the only way to find out was to launch and I'm glad we did,” he said.
Originally from Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal, Qwabe moved to Cape Town in 2008 for studies. He says that the business is solving challenges for a unique market and as a startup, they have the freedom of flexibility and the personal touch to know what communities truly need.
“We also create opportunities for locals to make an extra income, especially during this difficult time there’s been a bigger demand for us because of the coronavirus,” said Qwabe.
“Covid-19 has also affected us negatively as we had to stop dropping orders for certain venues but it has also made us evolve faster to cater for more needs than a takeaway.
“We are closing a deal to do groceries, meat and even alcohol in the new future.
“We want to go national in every overlooked community by urban delivery services. We also want to be a multi-purpose delivery service catering to communities' needs from food, groceries, medication to clothing,” he said.
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