Will drones deliver your next hot food order?

In Scandinavia, a new way to get hot food delivered is being tested, and it involves drones flying meals straight to people’s homes. Sweden, Norway, and Finland have thousands of islands, and many people living on these islands do not have access to regular food delivery services like those in big cities. Aviant, a Norwegian start-up, is working to change this by launching drone food delivery on the Swedish island of Värmdö. Värmdö is close to Stockholm, but even though it is only about eight miles away, the island’s residents have very few options for getting hot food delivered. The population is around 46,000, and it can double in the summer, but delivery services are limited. Aviant’s drones, which are pink and white, can deliver burgers from Bastard Burgers directly to people’s doors. The drones can fly up to six miles in about ten minutes, and the cost of delivery is similar to what people pay for car or bike delivery, but there is no driver needed. Right now, Aviant is only delivering about ten meals a week as part of their testing phase, but they plan to increase this number as the year goes on.

Aviant is also planning to start drone food delivery in other places, such as the Norwegian peninsula of Nesodden. Nesodden is only four miles from Oslo, but it takes much longer to get there by car. With drones, food can be delivered much faster. Aviant’s CEO, Lars Erik Fagernæs, says that there are about 100,000 people in these areas who will be able to get food delivered to their homes for the first time. It took a lot of testing to make sure the food stays hot and fresh during the flight. At first, the fries would get soggy, but now they use special containers to keep the food warm, even in winter. People are very excited about getting their food delivered by drone, and some even call their friends and family to show them the drone when it arrives.

Aviant hopes to use what they learn from these pilot programs to expand drone food delivery to more places in Scandinavia. They have identified about 40 locations where they could start delivering food by drone in the next two years. They also think this could work in places like Canada and the northeastern United States, where there are lots of islands and lakes. Sometimes, bad weather like strong winds can stop the drones from flying, but Aviant expects the service to be available about 90 percent of the time. In very remote areas, it is harder to make drone delivery work because there are not enough people ordering food, and the cost is too high. Other companies have tried delivering food by drone in places like the UK, Germany, and China, but it is hard to keep these services going without help from the government or big companies. In the UK, drones are used to deliver mail to islands, and the company Skyports is considering using their drones to deliver hot meals as well. They have to work with the government to make sure it is safe to fly drones, but things are getting easier. If drone delivery becomes more common, people in rural and island areas might be able to get hot food delivered just like people in big cities, changing the way food delivery works for many communities.