As Delivery Apps Spread, Innovating the Last Mile Remains an End Goal

Host Barbara Castiglia welcomed to The Main Course Yariv Bash,
CEO of Flytrex, to discuss an innovation in food delivery that
has long been on the radar, but whose growth has been exacerbated
by the pandemic: drones. While his company was founded in 2013
under different circumstances, it only took until 2016 for Bash
and his team to realize that drone deliveries were “gonna
happen.”


In 2017, Flytrex became the first company to provide a “working
door delivery solution.” They started testing the technology in
Iceland, and then the following year began working with the FAA
to make the “pie in the sky” dream reach American’s front yard.
And if it is food delivery, it could be a literal pie coming in
from a drone in the sky.


“These are actually small airplanes,” Bash explained, “and they
are being certified for commercial aviation. That is why it has
been taking so long. The FAA is… putting in so much effort and
resources to making sure the skies stay safe.”


Essentially, the process would work like this: instead of a
delivery person taking an order and driving it over to the
address themselves, they would take the order to the nearest
drone station and the drone would take the order to the customer.
The drone does so by hovering over the address at 80 feet and
lowering the package on a tether to its final destination.


Bash argued that the drones would also be a “win-win” for
restaurants, who struggle to make money from other delivery
services that take a large surcharge from their orders. The
drones, he said, are far more affordable.


The system is also remarkable efficient at handling packages.
“We’ve been delivering ice cream, eggs, coffee… anything that you
can think of without a spill.”


Bash also said it would benefit local communities. “In the end
it’s all about the local community, because everywhere we go we
open up a local station, we hire local employees and we can
support local restaurants, as well.”


Flytrex’s restaurant partners are currently, largely under
non-disclosure agreements, but he said, “We love working with as
many partners as we can once we open a station… to offer the
largest variety and make sure that the station delivers as many
deliveries as we can make a day.”