Lockdown 1.0 in March 2020. It feels like it was a life time ago and I can't believe we've gone through six more iterations since then. Our lovely city has been locked down for a total of 267 days (let's hope that number doesn't get any bigger) and we are internationally the most locked down city in the world. Not a record we're particularly proud of, but it just shows the resilience of the people of Melbourne.

The Victorian Government was telling us the only way we could continue to operate was purely off takeaway and delivery. We. FREAKED. out. How we're we going to be able to keep the business afloat? Only takeaway and delivery? Our bingsu has never been delivered before and we had to scramble to come up with takeaway and delivery solutions as soon as we could. After having to abruptly exit HWKR at the end of 2019 and finally settling down in our new location at Brick Lane, this was a curve ball we and the rest of the world, we're not expecting.

We were extremely hesitant at the time to jump on delivery platforms. The spotlight and news information on them was that they took over 30% of commission from your orders. There was no way we were going to be able to support our team and business when such a large chunk of our fee was given to the likes of Uber, Deliveroo, Door Dash etc. We didn't want Scoopy to succumb to the uncertainty of the lockdown so we rolled our sleeves up and readied our cars.

Day 1 of lockdown, I think we delivered a total of 5 orders. We were panicking. There was no way this volume was gonna help sustain us. Most of the people we delivered too we're our amazing family and friends who wanted to show support during this time. We needed to come up with a better plan.

Shout out to my friend Monica, who sparked this amazing idea because at the time we were only delivering 5km and around from our store. She said 'I wish you guys could deliver to Sunshine, I would happily order'. It was the 'Ah-ha' moment for us. I told Monica, look, I really want to deliver to you, but it make it worth while we'd have to do a few more houses in Sunshine for it to really work. I told her, I'll come back to you in 1 hour, I'll put out the word that we're delivering to Sunshine and if anyone happens to order then we can arrange something.

We jumped on Instagram and put out our first story letting our customers who live in 3020 know that we could deliver to them if they placed an order. In that 15 minute window, we had 25 orders come through. It was a game changer. We started exploring other postcodes and the demand was there. And there you have it, postcode unlock was born.

Our postcode unlock service grew exponentially since that day. We had to hire our own drivers and the Scoopy delivery driver service was in full effect. Every lockdown we went into, the volume of orders, size of the area we would deliver to and love for bingsu bet grew to new heights. We kept beating our personal records every time we got locked down.

The biggest night we ever had was one evening where we had 45+ drivers and over 600 orders with close to 1400 bingsu. Our whole team worked that day, every single employee was on site helping prepare orders and pack toppings to get it done. It was an amazing feeling getting it all done and we could not have been more grateful of our customers and proud of our team that day. We've delivered to the most outer corners of greater Melbourne. From Sunbury, Melton, Wollert, Mernda, Mt Evelyn, Ringwood, Frankston, Skye, Cranbourne and everything in between.

Since the first lockdown till now, we'll drop some statistics for those who are interested. We've completed in total over 36,000 orders to over 10,000 unique addresses in Metropolitan Melbourne. It is insane and without the strength of our hardworking and resilient team we would not have been able to get through it all and give you the quality and service you expect from us.

For many, ordering through postcode unlock was their first chance to try Scoopy. For many it was an opportunity to continue to have something to look forward to in the never-ending lockdown and a great gift to remind their loved ones that they are thinking of them. So many gifts and birthday bingsu were successfully delivered and we're so happy we were able to provide this service during the lockdown.

We are so grateful that our Scoopy fans jumped on board with our Postcode Unlock service. We look back on our time and the number photos we received from all of you enjoying your bingsu. It really is such a rewarding feeling. Without their orders we wouldn't be here today still kicking on and going strong. We're one of the lucky ones and we'll always work towards providing the best quality product and service.