Local Eats and Essentials .com, a website which allows diners to order takeout or
curbside pickup from local, independently owned restaurants, launched today.
The website/web app features offerings from diverse establishments such as Yanni’s
Too, Simone’s Kitchen and The Cask and Rasher. Users will find they are able to order
various dishes from each location all in one transaction. One member of the family may
crave Yanni’s award winning calamari, while another may prefer to dine on Taco
Tuesday specials from The Cask and Rasher---with Localeatsandessentials.com, that is
easily done.
The service was created in a partnership between Capital Region Media Independent
Media (publishers of the Ravena News-Herald and Greenville Pioneer locally) and City
Media of London, Ontario, Canada. It combines cutting edge technology—allowing
establishments to receive online orders and payments via automation, with a full-scale
marketing program featuring print ads, online ads on the publications website and social media pages, as well as several digital marketing services/promotions.
Altogether, participating restaurants receive over $3500 monthly in marketing value at no cost. In fact, the establishments only pay a small credit card processing fee to participate in the program. The program is funded through a “restaurant support fee” paid for by the consumer at the time of sale. It ranges from $1-$5, depending upon the amount of the purchase.
City Media CEO Katharine Haine said, “This is a great opportunity to help local
restaurants everywhere. In our “new normal” restaurants have been forced to rely on
takeout orders to stay in business. Until now, this has been a costly option for many
independent restaurateurs. Localeatsandessentials.com helps bring in more local
customers and keeps operating costs down, ultimately lowering the cost of business for
our local restaurants. We all win more local food options is a great thing for our
communities!
Capital Region Independent Media President Mark Vinciguerra said, “we felt very
strongly that assisting locally owned, non-chain, independent establishments were
essential for the communities’ character. Having these strong local brands add so much
to the overall quality of life in our area. In addition, the revenue earned from this product also goes to support local journalism. It is truly the proverbial win-win-win for
consumers, the establishments and community media.”
Local Eats and Essentials will be expanding into other market areas over the next few
months and working with other local media companies and restaurants to launch this
program in their areas. In addition, the program will add more establishments in this
inaugural market.
For more information about Local Eats and Essentials, please contact Warren Dews, Jr.
at wdewsjr@gmail.com, or Mark Vinciguerra at Markvinciguerra@ravenanews.com.
