In order to enhance the restaurant experience On the platform, iFood started a project to bring closer relationships, dialogue and transparency with partners from all over Brazil. On March 8th and 9th, 2022, iFood brought together restaurants with different characteristics to promote its 1st Restaurant Forum Meeting. The initiative seeks to establish an active listening journey, in order to prioritize and promote continuous improvements for partner restaurants.
For Roberto Gandolfo, vice president of logistics and restaurants at iFood, promoting the meeting is of utmost importance, as the company is opening a additional communication channel. “We do a lot of research with partners and conversations in after-sales and service, but today we marked a much greater and realistic opening, with empathy on both sides. On the one hand, iFood contextualizes the reasons for decisions and talks about the challenges; on the other, restaurants bring their pain and opportunities for improvement in the ecosystem”, says Roberto. “We don’t want to sit in the office developing a sequence of products that may not be suitable for those at the cutting edge. We want to build together, and we are very excited about that.”
The 1st Restaurant Forum Meeting brought together 20 establishments from seven cities and four states, including Belo Horizonte (MG), Curitiba (PR), Foz do Iguaçu (PR), Campinas (SP), Hortolândia (SP), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and São Paulo (SP). To create a heterogeneous group, restaurants that include different cuisines were invited, such as Brazilian, chinese, açaí, Italian, meat, burgers, sweets and japanese, subscribers to the basic plans (restaurants with their own delivery drivers) and delivery plans (which use iFood logistics).
The proposed dynamic was to divide the group into debate tables, to talk about four areas of action, which were selected by the partner restaurants themselves: cancellation processes, logistics, financial experience and service/communication. Initially, the groups raised the main difficulties within the proposed themes and then suggested improvements for each scenario.
“Within our mission to improve the experience with partners, an important block is connection and transparency. The Restaurant Forum is fully connected to this objective. iFood opens a channel of interactions with the possibility of building a plan with partners so that we understand the voice of restaurants, what pains they have, what we can do for them and open a channel of transparency to say what which, in fact, we are going to do”, comments Arnaldo Bertolaccini, director of experience for iFood restaurants.
The program will take place monthly, for a period of 12 months, with the same group of guest restaurants, providing feedback on the topics discussed and promoting new discussions.
Commitment signed
As next step measures, iFood is committed to providing feedback, improvement projects and implementation deadlines to each meeting held. The proposal is that at each monthly meeting the company provides feedback to partner restaurants on the topics that were discussed in the previous forum.
“Our mission now is to channel and synthesize everything that was raised in these two days of meeting and use this process as an input — input information — in the development of our products. The restaurants brought many ideas and flow suggestions. Now, the mission is to put this on the drawing board, discuss and see where this information can add to what iFood is already creating. Once this is done, bring the feedback to the next meeting”, concludes Gandolfo.
Participating restaurants
Marina Paysan, Namajô Veg
“I am still impacted because I saw how well we were received. The entire iFood team was willing to listen to our questions and excited to hear from everyone, even if they were problems, issues to be improved, everyone was receiving this information very well. So we are all very comfortable and very happy to be able to add this to iFood so that we can grow together”, comments Marina Paysan, from the Namajô Veg restaurant in Niterói (RJ).
Helena El Horr, Matula Marmitaria
“I thought the Forum’s initiative was very good. Before coming, I already had an expectation of being able to talk about the things that bother me, that we felt could be different. And suddenly talking directly to the people who work at iFood and who can make change happen, with receptivity, is wonderful. I am happy and confident that things will improve”, comments Helena El Horr, from the Matula Marmitaria restaurant, in Curitiba (PR).
Felipe, Meatz Burger N'Beer
“On the restaurant side, I think that in addition to being heard – which sometimes we have a lot of difficulty being heard by players –, it also brings this approach and this differentiated affection. When we have contact with people we relate to the tool in a different way. It’s not just a tool now, it’s people.” comments Felipe, from the Meatz Burger N' Beer – Buritis restaurant, in Belo Horizonte (MG).
Aline Souza, Maranata Confeitaria Artesanal
“With this interaction we are having and improving processes, I believe it is just growth. Not only for my restaurant, for iFood, but with others too, because our experiences are the pain of other restaurants that couldn't be here”, comments Aline Souza, from the Maranata Confeitaria Artesanal restaurant, in São Paulo (SP).
