‘A rat on a pig’s foot’ … Dear customer, we cannot deliver to hygiene.

Hygiene status of companies registered in the delivery application

Mr. A, who founded the casting agency last summer, has suffered a lot of absurd things recently. When I got the dispatch call, there were a lot of places that didn’t have formal signs or proper kitchen facilities. I saw some places where food was served with signs in auto repair shops, and there were restaurants selling salads with all kinds of garbage piled up on the dirty floor. A restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul, was wrapped in white plaster with bags of cement spread out next to the kitchen. Recently, at the home of a delivery pig, a rat that fell from a vent pipe was delivered with food as is. Mr. A said, “It’s food for people like my parents or my children, and every time I see a messy restaurant, I get angry.”

With delivery becoming a survival method in the era of the pandemic, the number of restaurants specializing in home delivery has increased significantly this year. The number of companies registered in the delivery app ‘Yogiyo’ doubled in 1 year and 3 months from 65,000 in March 2019 to 120,000 in June 2020.

Several companies without posters
The case in which a rat fell on the pig’s feet.
Rider “Lots of messy restaurants”

Very few companies with hygiene qualification
“Nevermind” delivery app companies
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety “It is difficult to complete the investigation”

While home delivery restaurants are on the rise, it is up to owners to adhere to basics like signage and hygiene standards. This is because anyone who has basic requirements, such as a business registration certificate, can open a business through a delivery app without the proper equipment. Sign-free home delivery restaurants are often found in the basement of buildings around Gangnam and Hongdae, where rent is expensive. A delivery app official said, “You don’t need to put up a sign in a delivery-only business. That’s the trend these days. “Mr. B, a delivery boy working in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, said,” Even if you don’t use a sign or sell other types of food, I think it’s a skill. “Currently, even a restaurant that specializes in home delivery constitutes a violation of the business owner’s compliance requirements under the Food Hygiene Law, unless a sign is attached. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety responded to Kyunghyang Shinmun’s written inquiry, “If you receive a corrective order and violate it, your business may be suspended.” There is no separate punishment for delivery app companies that mediate unmarked businesses. “

Government reform has not been able to keep up with the rise of home delivery restaurants. Another delivery worker, Mr. C, said: “Apart from the crown crisis, there are always hygiene problems in delivery restaurants.” In December last year, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety carried out planning and inspection only for a total of 7111 in February and August of this year of 14,090 home delivery restaurants. In the preliminary inspection of local governments, inspections were carried out only for companies with a history of violations. As of September this year, the total number of inspections by both the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and local governments was only 86,596. Among them, 2388 were found for not completing hygiene education and violation of sanitation standards. The Food and Drug Safety Ministry said it is virtually difficult to conduct a comprehensive survey of home delivery restaurants for reasons such as manpower and budget.

Delivery app companies are not responsible for individual restaurant hygiene issues. People of Delivery, Yogiyo said, “Because delivery apps are just a brokerage business connecting restaurants and consumers, we cannot force individual bosses to manage hygiene.” The two companies provide a service that exposes them to applications when home delivery restaurants receive a certain level of hygiene or more from the government. According to Kim Won-i and the Democratic Party office, the number of restaurants marked by the Food and Drug Safety Ministry within delivery persons is 2,322, which represents only 1.7% of the total.

Gyo-hyun Koo, head of the Ryder Union planning team, said: “If the authorities have the will, they are putting their hands to scale up even though they can filter out bad companies.”