美国国家公共电台 NPR--Promises of fast pizza delivery are becoming harder to keep

（单词翻译）

Promises of fast pizza delivery are becoming harder to keep

Transcript¹

Several big chains say haven't been able to hire enough drivers. In the past, those chains resisted third-party apps, such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, but they may be reconsidering.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For food delivered fast, pizza has always been a good bet.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) We guarantee your pizza will be delivered within 30 minutes or you get $3 off your order.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

But those promises are becoming harder to keep. The places that make and bake the pizza can't hire enough drivers to get it to your door.

MARTIN: That's not a new challenge for the pizza industry.

ANDREW CHARLES: Because this is a job, it's not a career, as an employee, who, if they're going to make a dollar more per hour doing something else, they're going to jump ship pretty quickly.

MARTIN: Andrew Charles is a senior restaurant analyst² with the investment banking³ firm Cowen. He says the pandemic made it hard for many restaurants to keep going. And as the crisis eased, some drivers chose not to come back.

MART?NEZ: The biggest pizza chains say the driver shortage is eating away at the bottom line, although there are options.

CHARLES: One is that pizza delivery comes back in vogue⁴ a bit more as consumers are seeking value right now, so maybe more value deals that'll get the consumer to order more pizza delivery.

MARTIN: Charles says pizza places resisted third-party apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash until now.

CHARLES: We've been through two years of pandemic. Third-party delivery worked in large popularity over the last two years. We just have seen that society just does not care who delivers their pizza.

MART?NEZ: And since we all know it ain't easy being cheesy, as long as the cheese on the pizza is still all melty and gooey, everything will be just fine.