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Food delivery apps at the fingertips of Sydney school students

Lucy Cormack

It was not so long ago that a few gold coins and a brown paper bag was all that was needed to buy lunch at school.

Now mobile food delivery apps are making their way into Sydney schools, extending lunch menus beyond salad sandwiches and pizza pockets.

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From Deliveroo to Foodora and UberEats, food delivery apps are being used by senior high school students seeking alternative lunch options, or a meal for late-night study sessions.

"We have noticed an increase in orders coming from school addresses across Australia," said a spokesperson for Deliveroo.

"We deliver direct to the school's front office in 30 minutes, providing teachers and students with a quick, easy and often healthier alternative to the canteen."

At Cranbrook School in Sydney's eastern suburbs, senior school day students use a combination of UberEats, Deliveroo and Foodora.

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"This is primarily by HSC students attending the campus after hours up to 9pm at night and on Saturdays and Sundays, " said Tim Browning, head of senior school at Cranbrook.

"The deliveries are brought to the school gate. We provide high quality and healthy food for growing boys in our school tuck shop during normal school hours, and encourage healthy eating habits through our sports programme."

Mr Browning said the school's tuckshop sales had been consistent over the past two years.  

While UberEats would not comment due to privacy rules, competitor Foodora said it was aware of the growing trend of school deliveries, though it remained "small".

"We expect it to grow further, certainly when schools are able to influence the type of food that can be ordered," a Foodora spokesperson said.

"To that end, Foodora has developed a dedicated platform that can allow organisations (like corporates or schools) to curate the selection of restaurants offered to their employees (or students), in order to drive more healthy eating habits."

At the King's School in Parramatta, boarders and day students are fed by school catering three times a day, with salad and snack bars available to them.

But, on Saturday evenings "it's not unusual to see a Domino's scooter around the place, delivering to boarders who remain over the weekend," a school spokesperson said.

"The availability of technology puts it at their fingertips."

King's senior students are also permitted to visit the local shops which are in close proximity to the school.

Headmaster at Sydney's Shore school Dr Timothy Wright, said he was not aware of students using delivery services, adding that students were required to keep mobile phones in their lockers throughout the day, likely preventing them ordering out.

"We allow our year 11 and 12 boys to go down to North Sydney to buy lunch. But I wouldn't be surprised if these services were becoming an issue in schools," he said.

"I'm not saying it hasn't happened here. But a lot of a lot of schools are trying to move to a better diet available in their tuck shop, and perhaps it comes with [student's] endless urge to try and outwit the powers that be."

Dr Wright said sometimes senior students ordered pizza, if they were staying back to study late, but that was not regarded as "out of order".
 

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Dr Ian Wright as the headmaster of Sydney's Shore school.