A new food delivery service has opened promising a more transparent pricing model for customers.

Local Isle was formed around the philosophy that convenience does not need to be expensive.

Delivery customers pay the same price for food as they would in the restaurant, and then a commission to Local Isle of $10 on a normal day or $12 on a public holiday.

The business is run by Tiné Tucker, Keoree Simmons, Harry Matthie, Kuane Smith and Yulanne Tucker.

“This is not a new industry for Bermuda,” Tiné Tucker said. “We saw an opportunity to provide delivery services for a more affordable price, with transparency for customers, merchants and drivers.”

Since launching on August 9, they have been providing delivery on Friday evenings and all day Saturday and Sundays.

They have 20 drivers and are slowly increasing their pool of workers and restaurants.

“We are working with what we have,” Tiné Tucker said. “The reality is a delivery service requires a consistent, steady pool of drivers. That determines what we can do.”

Some of the restaurants on the app are Bermuda Bubble Tea (Sandys), Plant Based Fuel Bda, Thyme Restaurant and Curry Leaf.

The hardest thing about setting up Local Isle was identifying a suitable network of people to work with.

Many people applied to be a driver for them but not everyone was suitable.

“I came on in late 2022 or early 2023,” Tiné Tucker said. It was another two years before the business was ready to go live.

“It was a lot of work to take an idea and build it into an enterprise with a viable business model,” she said.

Group members come from diversified backgrounds.

Tiné Tucker is a senior claims specialist in a reinsurance company.

“I don’t have a background in food service,” she said. “But to build a business, you have to understand risk.”

Ms Simmons, a chef, handles content creation for Local Isle’s social media. “I have always been passionate about food culture and storytelling,” she said.

Yulanne Tucker has a background in construction. “I helped to build the airport,” she said. “Now, I am working with a small business on project management.”

Mr Matthie works in information technology consulting and sets up merchants on the Local Isle system. Mr Smith has a background in transport and logistics.

Despite their busy schedules, they have all done delivery runs at some point.

Last week, Mr Matthie had to step up and do a delivery after a glitch happened in the system.

“On a weekday, the delivery button got left on for one of the restaurants,” he said.

“A customer ordered, we did not have a delivery driver at that time, so I made the run. Later a delivery driver called and said he could do it, but by that time I had already delivered the food.”

Tiné Tucker said making deliveries gave them a chance to see how all aspects of the business were operating.

The Local Isle app can be downloaded from the Android or Apple stores or through the company’s Facebook page.