Strategies for managing rush hour without stress

Peak delivery hours are concentrated: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM. These 5 hours represent 70-80% of your delivery revenue. Their management is therefore critical.

Anticipate with “mise en place livraison”: 30 minutes before the peak, prepare the most requested ingredients, assemble the containers, and print the labels. This preparation reduces the average time by 3 to 5 minutes per order.

Throttling is your safety valve. When the kitchen reaches its maximum capacity, increase prep times on platforms by 5 to 10 minutes. Customers are willing to wait a little longer, but not to receive a bad dish.

Define a maximum number of simultaneous orders. Beyond this threshold, put the restaurant on hold on a platform. It’s better to have 15 excellent orders than 25 mediocre orders.

During the rush, each person has a fixed role. The cook cooks, the packer packs, and the coordinator manages the tablets. No versatility during peak times.

After each rush, take 5 minutes for a debrief. What worked well? Or was the bottleneck? Note it down. These micro-improvements accumulate and make the difference.

Invest in a kitchen display system (KDS) that sorts orders by priority. The time saved and reduction in errors justify the investment within a few weeks.