When the Wing project teamed up with Adore Tea in Canberra, it meant tea lovers started scanning the skies for their incoming fix.
A couple of years ago Aman Palekar, owner of Adore Tea in Canberra, was introduced to a neighbour via the Mitchell Trading Association, named after the ACT suburb where the brand has its warehouse. The new kid on the block was a drone start-up called Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. The concept was to grow an app-based delivery service where customers would order products and a drone would drop them off minutes later.
Palekar jumped at the chance to showcase this technology, excited at the speed and convenience it represented. Adore Tea is one of a handful of businesses that keep some inventory at the Wing warehouse for when a customer makes an order. “They stock 10 to 15 of our most popular, fast-moving teas,” he says. “When someone orders, they fix up the order and manage the take-off and landing.”
While the service has been operating since 2019, it was not until Covid-19 hit in 2020 that people began looking for alternative ways to access contactless delivery. “During covid, sales [via Wing] were more than usual,” Palekar notes.
Kristy Darmody is a customer who visits Adore Tea’s Gold Creek venue on occasion. When she found out they delivered via drone, and that her address in Crace was in the fly zone, she decided to try the service. Initially attracted by the novelty, she is now sold on its convenience.
“Who doesn’t love the idea of Canberra Breeze dropped off by a drone?” she says, referring to Adore Tea’s signature tea blend. “I’ve used it a few times when I’ve actually run out of tea, and a couple of times when we had family visiting so they could see the drones and stock up. I have an almost-two-year-old and I’m due with my second next month so sometimes it’s hard to leave the house – anything convenient is great for me!”
The app provides photos and descriptions of product and after a few clicks and about 10 minutes the tea lands in her driveway. While she would love to see a wider selection of tea offered, she’s content with knowing that the range will grow in time. “We have ordered other food items – ice cream, sushi, coffees, banana bread, gelato, snacks – and would love to try more products as they become available.”
Due to current aviation restrictions, Wing only operates in select suburbs around Canberra and Logan in Queensland. And it will be a while before the can do pick-ups from suppliers, says Palekar, because the technology requires a special runway. For now, this alternative delivery service is hoping it will be able to expand into more locations as airspace restrictions ease and uptake, thanks to greater awareness, increases.
Tea flight, anyone?
This article originally appeared in AUSTCS enews 27 April 2021. Mailchimp no longer allows external links to the original newsletter.