Complete Review: Delivering for Caviar

What is Caviar?

Caviar is a food delivery service that was founded and launched in 2012 by Jason Wang, Shawn Tsao, Vince Cao, and John Keh which allows customers to order food from their favorite local restaurants and have it delivered to their door using Caviar’s app. It typically curates higher-end restaurants so that further partnerships can develop long term. 

Caviar was purchased by Square in 2014, a company that was used by customers to order food and pick it up themselves, with no delivery option. This is the major difference between Caviar and other food delivery services, such as DoorDash. Caviar provides its delivery service to restaurants that do not offer a built in delivery system, allowing Square’s initial service to be extended into the world of food delivery. Delivering for Caviar is a great way to make extra money in one’s spare time.

How do you make deliveries for Caviar?

With delivering for Caviar, you must make sure you are eligible with the following requirements:

• Must have a vehicle with delivery capability (e.g. car, bike, etc.) with two years of driving experience
• Must be 18 years old or older
• Have a smartphone that’s able to run the Caviar app

After you have checked off the job’s requirements, sign up to begin working. Create an account here (your Caviar and DoorDash logins are interchangeable because Caviar is a part of DoorDash too) and apply by submitting your form. You will receive an email with information for an orientation where you will choose a day and time that works best for you. Orientation will consist of filling out a few forms including your bank information, authorization of a background check and a walkthrough of how Caviar deliveries work and how to use the Caviar app as a courier.  Note: For the time being, Caviar’s courier orientation is virtual. 

Once you have signed up, you are ready to start making deliveries! Log on to the Caviar app and switch your status to “Online.” When you are in your desired area, be prepared for order notifications to come up. When an order shows up you have the option to reject the order or view it’s full details. Click “View Order Details” to find out where you are picking the order up from, where you will be delivering it to and the expected earning for that order. Once you have taken a look at the details, hold the “Hold to Accept Order” button to confirm that delivery. 

Next, drive to the restaurant ordered from, check in and let the staff know your Caviar order number. After you have picked up the correct order, type in the address provided on the app and head to the customer. Make sure to carefully read any specific instructions the customer has written as well. Drop off the order as directed by the customer and confirm the delivery. The app will then show a screen with the amount you have earned and information on any tips or bonuses. Just like most other delivery services, you are able to stop making deliveries whenever you would like. Just signout and click “Continue to Go Offline.”

How much do delivery drivers for Caviar get paid?

Because Caviar tends to work with higher-end restaurants, couriers can expect to earn a bit more than with other delivery companies. The expected pay per delivery is roughly $10-$25 an hour and tips arrive about 2 hours after a delivery has been made. Caviar also makes use of bonuses to incentivize drivers to make deliveries. There are a few different types of bonuses and promotions listed below. 

• Peak boost: you can receive extra earnings for making deliveries during peak time frames listed by Caviar
• Ongoing milestones: You can earn more by completing a certain amount of deliveries in a certain amount of time (e.g. $15 for completing 4 deliveries during first session within 4 days)
• New driver sign up bonus: if you refer someone to deliver for Caviar, you and that person must complete a certain amount of deliveries for you to receive a referral bonus

In order to maximize your earnings with Caviar, consider the following: 

• Figure out the busiest days and time frames
• Complete orders as on time as possible
• Utilize their bonus pay incentives
• Become familiar with the area you are making deliveries in

Delivering for Caviar

3 Top advantages of driving for Caviar

1. Parking ticket reimbursement program: 

With every 100 deliveries you make, you are allowed to send Caviar one parking ticket (as long as it is eligible) and you will be reimbursed. This is extremely helpful as sometimes the parking situation for a restaurant may not be ideal.

2. Details of an order are given before you accept an order

This feature is very important and useful because couriers can decide whether or not a delivery is worth making based on the total distance, time and estimated pay

3. No rating system for drivers

Without a rating system, drivers are not penalized for situations where they are not at fault such as long restaurant wait times or the order not being ready on time. 

3 Top disadvantages of driving for Caviar

1. Manual typing in of customer’s address

After you receive an order notification, you will have to type in the address of the restaurant and the customer’s address yourself. This can be time consuming and inefficient as you will want to make deliveries in a timely manner.

2. Expected earnings can be confusing,

In the order details, before you accept an order, Caviar gives you an expected earning for money you may make. However, this is frustrating because the expected earnings are not always correct. If Caviar oversells your earning potential, you could be making less money than you were expecting. 

3. Long restaurant wait times

As with any delivery service company, you may have to wait awhile for the order. Although restaurants are supposed to have the food prepared by a certain time, this is not always the case.

Caviar delivery driver reviews

We’ve taken a look at Indeed reviews for delivering with Caviar to better understand how employees rate Caviar as an employer.

Indeed Caviar reviews give an average rating of 3.9/5 stars from over 100 employee reviews. With employees rating the work-life balance and flexibility the highest out of the specified criteria, which many people consider very important factors when considering a job.

Is it worth getting a job driving for Caviar?

Caviar seems to be one of the more favorited food delivery companies. Their focus and overall goal for their couriers is to make deliveries simple, quick and stress-free. It may take time to increase your earnings and get used to the job but that is common with almost any job. Ultimately, it is up to you, your schedule and financial desires for deciding whether or not working as a delivery driver is for you. However, the simplicity of experience may be appealing to those who are looking for a job where they can work on their own time and make extra spending money if they feel like it!