Twin brothers Aaron and David Cabello are officially relaunching their Philadephia-based food delivery app, Black and Mobile, in Detroit, Michigan.
The Cabello brothers founded the app in their hometown just last year after being inspired to intentionally support Black businesses following President Donald Trump's controversial 2016 election campaign. At the time, the two business school dropouts were earning money by working for other third-party delivery apps services but questioned why most of these companies did not emphasize Black restaurants in predominately Black communities.
“When I started I didn’t even know these restaurants existed in my own city. That alone shows the need for a service or a directive to find Black businesses," David told the Detroit Free Press.
It was then the idea for Black and Mobile was designed not just to be a Black-owned delivery service, but to also solely support Black-owned food businesses.
“It’s really important because you have to know where our businesses are," David said. "Of course, there are directories to help you find them, but we’ll bring them right to your door.”
Expansion into Detroit was a natural idea given its racial demographics with Black people making up the overwhelming majority at 82% of the city's population. And it's a small city with a general population of just over 700,000 people. So, a little more than a year following its February 2019 launch, the Cabellos opened their app to the Detroit market, however, COVID-19 shutdowns halted their progress.
Then, during the tumultuous summer that saw social justice issues take center stage, a higher interest in supporting Black-owned businesses caused a surge in support for Black and Mobile. Although turning a profit, the app service took a hiatus this past summer.
“I don’t want a Black man to have to get killed for people to support Black businesses,” David said.
The app returned to Detroit in September but faced more issues related to COVID-19 precautions as many of the businesses fueling them were suffering pandemic-induced financial crises. As of last week, the twins had 12 Black-owned restaurants in Detroit signed up for the app. They recently returned in hopes of signing up more, however, their website features nearly 20 area restaurants as available offerings.
The Philadelphia service works with more than 40 Black-owned restaurants in various parts of the major metropolitan area. Their previous expansion into Baltimore hosts 10 restaurants, and more than 30 restaurants are featured on the app in the Greater Atlanta area.
“It doesn’t matter what color you are,” David said. “If you want to support Black businesses and get some food, that’s all that matters. We don’t promote anything about hating anyone or not hiring anyone. We don’t ask what color you are when you apply for a job with us. If you want to support Black businesses and Black people, this is a simple way to do it.”
Their app revels in incredible importance at a time when corporate greed has shown some restaurants taking advantage of the current buy Black wave. Uber Eats recently received backlash for its lack of vetting restaurants featured under its "Black-owned" tab that was added earlier this year to support struggling Black-owned businesses during the pandemic, as Blavity previously reported.
“We have a different niche,” David said. “At the end of the day, we care about Black business and taking care of Black people. And for them, it’s about the dollar. What comes first for us is making sure our people can thrive.”
According to its website, Black and Mobile is the first Black-owned food delivery service in the country to exclusively deliver for Black-owned restaurants. The goal is also further-reaching as the app also allows the company to hire men and women from the communities for which they serve to directly positively affect the unemployment rate and allow more people to be exposed to more opportunities, the website states.
The Black and Mobile app is available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, and Philadelphia via the Apple App and Google Play stores.
