About Us
Locate and buy food directly from your local community food and hospitality businesses
Check out ‘Find Local Food’ for your suburb now!
what is ‘local meals’ all About?
The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it some huge challenges for small businesses all of the world.
We were hearing stories on current affairs programs and from cafe owners directly that the cost of opening the doors was simply becoming prohibitive under these conditions, but they still wanted to be able to cook food for their customers! Even though the turnover was very low, this was still a major priority for most business owners.
The biggest surprise was that it seemed that everyone was struggling except for the food delivery app operators who seemed to be not interested in looking at minimising their commission rates and therefore chipping away at even the smallest profits available to the business in order to survive.
People were in forced isolation, they needed access to food as mush as ever, and seemingly their best option was to use these apps thinking they were supporting the businesses as best as they could. The fact is most consumers were blissfully oblivious of the strain they were putting on the profit margins of their favorite cafes and restaurants etc.
We were struggling to locate those local food businesses that were still happy to remain open, albeit with limited menus and opening hours, and with a little time and effort, Local Meals was born! Our intention is to create a basic listing of local businesses that the community can access to see who is open, and when. Who has their own delivery facilities, or pick up only. When it is a local business it is easy to drop in and collect food and go home again and most people felt that they would prefer to support their local businesses directly so they can still be buying food from them when this is all over.
What about when this is all over, and those who are able can reopen their doors to customers again?
Who knows? We feel that when it is all said and done, there will still be a desire for locals to buy local without feeding large corporate app companies who seemingly were not really fussed about the local businesses and whether they survive or not.
We plan to stick around anyway and continue to provide an alternative to local customers and businesses alike.
Loyalty is what it is all about now, and people will know who was there to help when the chips were down and who was not.
If the demand for our listing service continues on after the COVID-19 pandemic, then it will be a great indication that small, local businesses are ready to begin to step away from their reliance on food delivery apps and step into a business model of their own that includes their own delivery capabilities, as well as a multitude of other changes that create a more loyal and supportive customer base to ensure that profits remain with the business rather than feeding large corporate entities.
Our intention is to support local food businesses in such a way that you can continue to grow and be profitable enough to remain in your community.
We have no affiliations with any other industry or company, we are just locals who want to help our local food and hospitality industry survive this global pandemic intact so you can continue to serve us food when everything returns to whatever ‘normal’ will look like.
Any questions, please feel free to contact our team directly using the contact form.
The Local Meals Team
General contact form
Local Meals
Supporting local food and hospitality industries
Local favorites
Allows customers to find local food and buy direct from the business to maximise the chance of surviving
Personal Delivery
Many local businesses have taken the step of using employees to deliver the food directly to the customer’s door, and people are noticing the difference
add my business, free!
If you own a café, restaurant, takeaway shop or food business that serves the public, feel free to contact us using the form below to have a FREE listing created for you.
Listings are complimentary, with no obligation to remain listed.
Not a food business owner? If your favourite local spot isn’t on the site, please don’t apply on their behalf—just give them a call and encourage them to complete the form and get listed or drop us a note on our Facebook page!