Chick-fil-A opens break room for NYC food delivery workers

Food delivery workers in New York City are getting a break room to recharge between deliveries during the cold winter months. 

Chick-fil-A, in collaboration with its New York restaurant operators, temporarily opened The Brake Room on the Upper East Side specifically to give "individuals who work in the food delivery community to rest, get warm and recharge during New York City’s harshest winter days," the company said. 

Starting Thursday, anyone in the food delivery community will be able to access The Brake Room, where they can rest, use the bathroom, store a bike, charge their phone and get free Wi-Fi and beverages. It will be open through mid-April from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 

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To enter, workers will only have to show proof of a delivery within the past week though an eligible third-party food delivery app. 

The Atlanta-based chain said its important that there is a dedicated space for the more than 65,000 food delivery workers in the big apple to "take a break and refuel." 

After the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the food delivery business surged, given that millions of people were forced to shelter at home. According to data from global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the food delivery market more than tripled from 2017 to 2021. 

Though strict lockdown measure are well in the past, food delivery services have remained an important part of a restaurant's business. 

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During an earnings call earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told analysts that "the delivery category has been pretty resilient post-pandemic, certainly more so than a lot of other categories that benefited from the pandemic."

For Chick-fil-A in particular, "the food delivery community has become an increasingly important part of each restaurant’s business, with the highest number of Manhattan-based Chick-fil-A restaurant deliveries reported in the winter months of 2022," the company continued. 

Jared Caldwell, a Chick-fil-A owner and operator in New York City, said he sees the same workers come through several times a day, nearly every day of the week. 

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"The food delivery community helps to power our businesses, and this is just our small way of showing appreciation for all they do," Caldwell said.