PTMàMesa, a free delivery service launched by Portimão Council in January, has generated around €130,000 for the local restaurant sector – more than double the amount the council invested in the project.
The local authority announced last week that the project is having a “very positive impact” on restaurants and pastry shops.
The council will continue to cover the cost of the commissions and fees associated to the service until mid-April, it said, having already ploughed around €60,000 into the scheme. The investment has covered the creation of the PTMàMESa website, app and the monthly fee of every participating establishment.
The initiative is part of the larger council-led scheme ‘Portimão Dá à Mão à Economia Local’ (Portimão Lends a Hand to Local Economy), which aims to help companies and families deal with the effects of the pandemic.
The delivery service was created with the help of comidas.pt, a food delivery company based at StartUp Portimão, and is free to use for restaurants, eateries and pastry shops as well as clients.
A total of 76 restaurants have joined PTMàMESA, presenting a wide variety of menus from traditional Portuguese food to Asian, Italian, Brazilian, Middle Eastern and more.
Clients can place their order (must be a minimum of €5) online (ptamesa.pt) or by using the #PTMàMESA app.
At the time of writing, the council said that nearly 7,000 meals had been delivered since the service was launched. The platform has 2,552 active clients, the council says, each having placed an average of 2.74 orders.
PTMàMESA also employs 12 delivery drivers, providing a “temporary employment solution” for youngsters who are still studying or locals who have lost their jobs or had their income affected by the pandemic.
And due to the popularity of the delivery service, the platform may look to hire more drivers soon.
Anyone interested in learning more about the scheme can contact the team behind it at +351 912 945 135.
