Uber offers $0 delivery for Black-owned restaurants
NEW YORK -- Uber is offering free delivery for Uber Eats orders from Black-owned restaurants through the remainder of 2020 and announced a number of other initiatives to help support minority communities and employees in a Friday blog post.
The announcement comes as U.S. companies, including Amazon and Netflix, step up efforts to become more inclusive and supportive of minority employees and communities in the wake of George Floyd's killing, which sparked global protests and conversations about racial inequality in the U.S. and elsewhere.
"In addition to extending the $0 delivery fee for Black-owned restaurants for all of 2020, we are taking steps to more effectively identify and highlight the diversity of restaurants on our platform, including Black-owned restaurants, permanently," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a blog post.
The company also announced a $10 million investment in Black-owned businesses through promotions and other merchant support and efforts to double its spending on Black-owned contractors and suppliers
"In addition to previously committing $1 to the Equal Justice Institute and Center for Policing Equity, we will commit to a $10 investment over the next two years to advance the success of Black-owned small businesses by driving demand via promotions and other merchant support," Khosrowshahi said.
The two announcements come on top of a number of other plans from Uber to support Black communities and employees, including an increased focus on pay equity, more Black representation in company leadership, a new "Inclusivity and Accessibility Product Lead role" and more.
"One thing is clear to us: we can’t just hope that our products alone will improve equity and fairness. We must use our global breadth, our technology, and our data to help make change, faster—so that we become a more actively anti-racist company; a safer, more inclusive company and platform; and a faithful ally to all the communities we serve," Khosrowshahi wrote.
Uber recently acquired delivery app Postmates in a $2.4 billion all-stock deal. Uber Eats controlled about a fourth of the food delivery market before the merger. Uber Eats orders surged more than 50 percent in the first quarter of 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced restaurants to close for indoor dining.