Foodbomb launches hospitality BNPL BombPay
Food order management platform, Foodbomb, has launched BombPay — Australia’s first wholesale marketplace ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) product, specifically tailored to the needs of the hospitality industry.
Designed to give restaurant and cafe owners more flexibility when it comes to their supplier payments, BompPay opens up cash-flow and eliminates the business-crippling effects of cash-on-delivery (COD), which has become the preferred form of supplier payment post COVID.
Through Foodbomb, BompPay users are given 21 days credit to pay their wholesale suppliers at no extra cost to their business. This is the first time venues have been able to use a BNPL service in a wholesale capacity across numerous suppliers. Suppliers in return are paid immediately.
While the product isn’t a direct result of the pressures of COVID, recent conversations* within the Foodbomb network have revealed that just under 40% of restaurants, cafes and food venues feel that moving to cash-on-delivery has negatively affected their cash flow. When asked how their business was performing post lockdown, almost two thirds also said that they were yet to return to full service operations. Half said that they expected to be back to normal in the next 3 months.
Foodbomb CEO and founder, Paul Tory, said “It’s no secret the hospitality industry has been under immense pressure the last two years. Prior to the pandemic, credit was a widely accepted form of payment for most suppliers. But when venues had to shut, many debts went unpaid, crushing the wholesale industry.
“Flash forward to 2022 and most suppliers are now requesting cash-on-delivery instead to safeguard themselves. While venues are excited to reopen, to do so successfully they need staff and food to serve; the cash outlay on both when not yet operational is huge. They need more flexibility.
“We launched BombPay to help our partners get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
“We also wanted to eliminate one of the industry’s most time-consuming and redundant practices — which is the impracticalities of having several suppliers, each with unique needs, on the go at the same time.
“One venue alone can easily have 15 suppliers all requiring different payment and ordering terms. By streamlining this side of their operations, users are able to not only save time and resources, but can focus on what they do best — providing wonderful dining experiences. Suppliers can also reach a wider range of venues with a stronger degree of confidence.”
R&CA CEO, Wes Lambert said, “R&CA’s 2021 Benchmarking Report found that over 30 percent of costs that hospitality venue operators incur goes towards food and beverage. During this uncertain time, and in the wake of COVID-19, this is a huge upfront cost to bear. BombPay assists owners in operating at full capacity quicker and helps give them a financial boost that they need. We hope that this will help many businesses who are just starting to rebuild.”
Currently operating in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, Foodbomb’s online platform enables restaurants, cafes and caterers to not only order produce in seconds, but to tap into bulk buying power, consolidate their procurement, and find new suppliers with confidence. Every supplier on Foodbomb is vetted to ensure it meets certain quality standards.
The platform offers venues 19 categories of product from over 100 hand-picked suppliers and has been used by over 3000 businesses.
Tory added, “We designed BombPay to integrate with our platform seamlessly. Once registered, users will easily be able to use BombPay across all suppliers. They simply select BombPay as a payment option at checkout.
“The hospitality industry is a highly adaptive and ambitious sector. Foodbomb is delighted to play our part in helping to turbo-charge the industry with the introduction of our payment solution. We believe this to be a game-changing solution for many that will drive sales and expedite the growth of venues and suppliers.”
Foodbomb will be offering a buy now pay later option with 21 days standard credit for all eligible venues.
8th March 2022
