Pandemic boosts food delivery sector in Brazil

Restaurants in Rio de Janeiro have turned to food delivery to save their businesses, creating hundreds of delivery jobs for many who have been made unemployed by the pandemic.

With restrictive coronavirus measures in place for almost a year now, many restaurants have gone bankrupt or are struggling to survive.

Others, like Ella Pizzaria restaurant, have focused on food delivery to keep in the business.

Many unemployed, because of the economic crisis resulting from the pandemic, are now applying to work in this type of market through the now commonplace delivery apps.

Fabricio Batista, a delivery worker for almost 9 years, said he sees many new people in this business.

"Until now, many people who were not working in this (delivery) started to be delivery workers, because of the increasing demand for delivery," he said.

Batista works in a "tropical-beach food" restaurant in the morning until afternoon, before joining other delivery boys at the Ella Pizzaria.

On the streets of Rio de Janeiro at night, it's easy to spot delivery workers carrying their delivery bags on all sorts of vehicles, from electric scooters to bicycles and motorbikes.

Owner of a group of restaurants, Pedro Siqueira saw his delivery income skyrocket during the pandemic.

Ella Pizzaria, who has a separate delivery kitchen, saw a 10 times increase in delivery revenue.

Seeing the success of his pizza delivery, Siqueira opened a new branch in a different neighbourhood and believes this trend is here to stay.

"We saw the opportunity to open one more place as we saw that our delivery was going very well," he said.

Like other parts of the economy, the pandemic has transformed businesses, some of these changes are likely to continue for years to come, especially with services like home delivery that have become popular among customers.