Contact-free home deliveries: how to support cool, independent businesses and get fresh food delivered to your door

The coronavirus pandemic is changing all our lives – including the way we shop – as the Government’s new social distancing measures strike home.

Two weeks ago Ocado, the online grocery retailer that delivers Waitrose and own-brand products, was forced to suspend its website as it struggled to cope with demand, while some other well-known delivery services such as Abel & Cole and Oddbox announced they would be temporarily unable to take new orders.

Abel & Cole and Ocado relaunched their sites last week, with daily queues for the latter still into the thousands.

Yet there are many more small, independent companies worth knowing about that deliver sensible quantities of high-quality food to our doorsteps — and we’re not just talking fruit and veg.

Fresh pasta, meat and nutritious pre-prepared meals can also be safely and easily delivered straight to your home — or to the homes of those you can't spend time with at the moment.

These “contact-free” delivery companies are already well positioned to offer their services to self-isolators, while safeguarding their own staff.

Healthy meal delivery company, Fresh Fitness Food promises daily delivery of everything you need to eat that day: three main meals and a snack.

Chief executive Caspar Rose says the brand’s customers tend to be busy London professionals with body composition goals but, in the last week or so, new orders have come from those wanting to boost immunity with a balanced diet that will best prepare them for combating the virus, should they contract it.

The company’s free delivery radius takes in areas within the M25, always between 11pm and 6am, to doorsteps or an apartment concierge.

“People can wake up in the morning, their cooler bags are there, each labelled and air-sealed,” says Rose. “Our deliveries are already no contact.”

Restaurant closures have seen the brand’s suppliers receiving far fewer orders than they were even a few days ago, with one usually taking £100,000 in nightly orders taking only 10 per cent of that last night, says Rose.

“Our suppliers are fully stocked and, as an essential service, we plan to deliver through any lockdown.”

Fresh Fitness Food plans cost from £23 a day. NHS workers can get 50 per cent off, while anyone working remotely during the coronavirus outbreak can use the code WFH10 for 10 per cent off.

London-based homemade pasta specialist Pasta Evangelists has next-day delivery to anywhere in Great Britain and Northern Ireland at a cost of £3.50, or free for orders of £25-plus.

"We are experiencing a very large uplift, with order numbers up 600-700 per cent,” says founder and managing director Alessandro Savelli. “We are fully equipped to fulfil every order.”

Pasta and sauces are made in London every day, then delivered in thin recyclable boxes through letterboxes, or to designated safe places.

The brand has committed to full pay for staff throughout the coronavirus crisis, including for those who need to self-isolate.

Prices per dish start from around £6. A new launch is the pasta care package which, at £25, includes a £5 donation to Age UK. It’s the perfect pick-me-up for the NHS worker or self-isolating relative in your life.

Scottish online butchers Donald Russell is “open as usual” but delivery is around three weeks from the time you place your order. The next available date is Wednesday, 15 April.

Based in Aberdeen, the brand uses national couriers and delivers across the UK.

“Many customers are placing larger orders than usual. However, we have plenty of product and our butchers are still working hard to be able to meet the current demand,” says marketing director Sue Stephenson.

Chilled boxes are left on doorsteps or another safe place. Prices vary, one package on offer at the moment is 10 microwaveable dishes for £50.25.

HIIT Kitchen, a meal delivery service, started as a healthy eatery in St Albans just over two years ago.

The brand delivers three days’ worth of meals to your doorsteps on Mondays and Thursdays, at £10 per delivery.

Co-founder Kris Tyrell says: “We previously got investment, around two months ago, so sales have gone up since then. But in the past week they’ve doubled.”

Using their own temperature-controlled van, plus DPD’s services, the brand plans to continue deliveries nationwide. Prices are from £7 for main meals.