My name is Fabian Siegel, and I am the CEO & Founder of Dinnerly. I’m writing this note regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus as reassurance that the safety of our customers, our team and our community is, and always has been, a top priority.
We are closely monitoring the news as it develops and are dedicated to upholding our strict safety standards that ensure the health and well being of our Dinnerly community. As food providers, we have been deemed an “essential service” by health and government agencies. Our team understands—now more than ever—how important it is that your meals are delivered safely and reliably every week.
I cook Dinnerly meals with my family, and sharing healthy, high-quality ingredients with the Martha & Marley Spoon community is a privilege and a responsibility I take seriously. Because of this, we will continue to be diligent and proactive in protecting the safety of our products, employees and community and delivering the quality home-cooked meals you’ve come to expect from us.
Thank you for your loyalty and your trust in us.
Fabian Siegel, Founder & CEO
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DELIVERIES
Will there be service interruptions?
We are working hard to continue delivering our meals each and every week. To help manage a recent surge in demand and to ensure all customers receive their weekly orders, we may need to temporarily adjust your delivery day to an alternate day within the same week. Please rest assured that if an adjusted delivery day becomes necessary, we will always communicate this to you in advance.
Additionally, to ensure a sustainable and reliable food supply chain, we have reduced the time you have to edit upcoming orders by one day. This will be visible and updated in your account for your next week's deliveries.
Will there be shipping delays?
While we always prepare backup plans, there are certain things—particularly right now—that we can’t control. Unanticipated delays are, unfortunately, one of them. We are in constant contact with our shipping partners and are working with them to identify possible issues in real time and prevent delays where possible. As you may know, we pack our boxes with extra ice and carefully insulate perishables. We do this so that our deliveries can withstand minor delays and remain chilled while in transit. If your box is delayed, please check that your chilled products are still cool and that ice within the cool pack is at least partially frozen.
CUSTOMER CARE
What is the best way to reach the customer care team?
Due to a high volume of inquiries, some of our wait times are longer than normal. Currently, we are responding to phone calls and direct messages within 72 hours. Our customer care representatives are doing their best to respond to questions as quickly as possible and ensure that every query receives a response. To offset these longer wait times, we kindly ask that you reserve phone calls for urgent matters. For general questions and feedback, please reach out by email or use the chatbot available on our website.
DEMAND
What happens if Dinnerly runs out of an ingredient/produce?
You’ve likely seen the news showing supermarket shelves depleted of inventory. This is not the case for us, thankfully. Our business model allows us to be agile and adjust our menus to match the availability of produce. There are, however, some items that may not be as readily available as they were before COVID-19. As a result, we may need to slightly alter the ingredients of a few recipes. Where this is necessary, we will provide appropriate substitutions, and our customer care team will inform you of changes in advance so that you can continue to enjoy the quality cooking experience you’ve come to expect from us.
FOOD SAFETY
What are your food safety protocols?
As a food supplier, Dinnerly follows strict Food Safety and Quality Assurance procedures at all times to ensure customers are always receiving fresh and safe ingredients. Our on-site Food Safety and Quality Assurance experts are continuing to reinforce our stringent sanitation and hygiene procedures. As part of these procedures, we adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (the legal protocols food manufacturers and sellers must comply with to be certified by food regulators) and have also prohibited all nonessential visitors from entering our fulfillment centers.
Are the ingredients and produce in my box still safe?
There is no current evidence that COVID-19 is transmitted by food. As always, please continue to practice everyday kitchen hygiene when preparing food, including washing your hands thoroughly before working with raw ingredients and washing all vegetables before cooking them.
Will my meals be okay if there are minor delivery delays?
Receiving your fresh groceries at home is as much about staying healthy as it is about saving time. All the ingredients you receive from us come from a controlled environment in our fulfillment centers. We are working closely with our partner carriers to ensure these ingredients move from packing to shipping quickly and arrive safe, sealed, and delivered direct to your door.
All ingredients are kept in cold environments throughout the manufacturing and delivery process. These environments include chilled warehouse and cold trucks. We do this to ensure ingredients stay fresh and cool from the moment they are harvested until they reach your door. Additionally, our boxes are packed with ice and perishables are carefully insulated so that deliveries can withstand minor delays and remain chilled while in transit. In the event that your box is delayed, please check that your chilled products are still cool and that ice within the cool pack is at least partially frozen.
What are you doing to mitigate COVID-19?
We have clearly communicated to team members and suppliers about how to protect themselves and their environments against contracting or further spreading the virus. We are also prohibiting entry to our facilities for team members and suppliers that may have been in contact with infected persons, albeit not showing any symptoms. Finally, we have sealed non-essential entrances and exits at our facilities.
Our internal experts are on-site at each facility to monitor the coronavirus situation and ensure these policies are being strictly followed and adapt these policies as the changes develop.
DELIVERY SAFETY
What happens when drivers visit a home that is in quarantine?
Customers are able to set special instructions for their delivery so the driver is advised to safely leave the box on their doorstep with zero human-to-human interaction. This eliminates customers’ interaction with drivers and allows customers to retrieve their box when it is convenient.
