Protect Access to Grocery Delivery Services
Purchasing groceries for delivery on-demand saves consumers’ time, creates jobs in the grocery industry, expands the reach of local brick-and-mortar grocery stores, and provides access to healthy food options for disabled and elderly Californians who may not have the ability to visit a supermarket on their own.
However, legislation in the California State Legislature would negatively impact how delivery companies and their driver partners are able to serve our communities. Assembly Bill 1360 would significantly limit the availability of grocery delivery to your home and stymie access to this innovative solution used by millions of Californians.
The Facts
- The bill’s proponents say their goal is to ensure consumers receive fresh food, but AB 1360 would do little to advance food safety. Rather, it would enact burdensome and unnecessary requirements for the delivery drivers who deliver groceries and the innovators providing access to food delivery. In fact, this view is reflected in the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s analysis of the bill noting that the opponents “raise legitimate questions about certain aspects of the bill” and that the bill itself has “ill-fitting parts”.
- The bill’s vehicle requirements would impact both drivers and businesses, by making it difficult for drivers to use their personal vehicles for grocery delivery. The vehicle requirements proposed in the latest version of the bill impose standards for ridesharing vehicles that make sense for safely transporting passengers, but not when delivering food.
We have seen that on-demand delivery has been pivotal for strengthening local brick-and-mortar retailers in California. Helping grocery stores bring their stores online through e-commerce platforms and on-demand delivery has increased sales, customers and made local grocery stores more competitive.
Regulations designed for restaurant employees are simply incompatible with companies that provide grocery delivery and their driver partners. On-demand delivery companies work every day to ensure their innovative solutions prioritize consumers’ safety. This legislation will not make our food any safer. Instead, it will create barriers to a technology that hasempowered many Californians to live independently and access the products they need on a daily basis.