Providoor, the restaurant food delivery service born in response to the Covid lockdowns, has fallen victim to their end and was handed over to liquidators today.

Melbourne chief and founder of Providoor, Shane Delia, confirmed the company’s demise, effective immediately, after just three years, on Friday afternoon.

“Although today is a very sad day, I am proud of Providoor and what it has achieved. We served over a million meals and built something that made a difference during some very dark days,” he said.

“I made Providoor during the lockdown, when the hospitality industry was turned upside down and we had to find a way to survive. Providoor meant we could secure and create jobs, and give people a little bit of restaurant joy in a pretty bleak time.

Jonathan Colbran and Tristana Steedman of RSM Australia have been appointed liquidators.

Delia launched Providoor in Melbourne in April 2020, then expanded to Sydney and Canberra in July 2021 and then briefly in Brisbane.

At the time, the chef said it was an industry-led solution to a broken delivery model, and more financially fair for the restaurants involved, by charging a 15% commission — about half the discount demanded by major retailers. technology delivery brands.

“Providoor was not set up as a quick fix. We have a long-term strategy and our expansion into New South Wales is the next step,” said Delia two years ago.

Today he said that when people continued to use Providoor after the social restrictions were lifted, it showed us that the concept worked.

“I wish it had been given the chance to weather the challenging economic conditions that so many in the restaurant and hospitality industry are currently facing,” he said.

Providoor is a separate entity from the Chef Delia Group and will not be liquidated have an impact on the operation of the group’s restaurants or events activities.

RSM Australia’s Jonathon Colbran said Providoor’s closure would have a direct impact on around 50 Sydney and Melbourne restaurants using the delivery service and 16 full-time employees.

He said Providoor customers who purchased gift cards or future meals using credit cards should discuss their issue with their bank and may be eligible for a chargeback.

“Based on our initial assessment of Providoor’s financial position, there is currently insufficient cash to pay a dividend to creditors or make refunds to customers, including gift card holders,” he said.

“We understand this will be very disappointing news, but we wanted to inform customers as soon as possible, especially if they had purchased gifts or meals for upcoming special events.

The creditors will receive further information within 10 working days. Gift cardholders can notify RSM at [email protected], employees – [email protected], and other creditors at [email protected].

Providoor’s collapse follows its acquisition of gourmet marketplace CoLab earlier this month. Melbourne ready meals company Efoodz. acquired the CoLab brand, IP, database, and other property from its trustees this week for an undisclosed sum. CoLab’s Sydney branch is closing.

Grocery delivery service Milkrun shut down in early April after operating for 19 months and had raised $86 million over the past two years.

The meteoric demise of the industry began 12 months with Send’s collapse in May 2022, less than 12 months after its launch.

That was followed by rival Voly in November, after burning $18 million in a Seed round. The brand and database were subsequently adopted by the Northern NSW meat delivery service Our Cow. British delivery service Deliveroo pulled out of Australia last November after losing $33 million last year.