Manchester street food giant Grub has shared a brilliant response to influencers asking for free meals in exchange for social media posts.
The operator posted at the weekend to say they would continue to charge influencers full price for their meals - but there's a twist.
Grub will match the amount spent by influencers at its site in the Green Quarter and donate it to local food banks and charities.
They wrote: "We will then donate an equal amount to your bill to a local food bank charity so that someone in need can eat plus we'll share YOUR post and profile on our social media so that everyone knows you are supporting your community in these tough times."
It comes a month after several restaurant operators in Manchester hit out at Instagram influencers asking for free meals - requests abelled 'excessive' and 'inconsiderate'.
Simon Wood of Wood restaurant, Mughli, Kala and Mama Z all reported receiving - and rejecting - similar requests after months of forced closures.
Grub has already had one influencer take them up on the offer, with sustainable food blogger Elsa Eats visiting over the weekend.
Elsa's order of katsu curry, vegan chicken wings, a box of doughnuts and a cucumber mojito totalled £41.50.
Grub has since matched her spend and donated the same amount to Mustard Tree, the homeless charity headquartered nearby in Ancoats.
She posted: "Definitely money well spent in these difficult times."
Sharing a screenshot of the donation, Grub added: "If you can afford it we would also encourage folk to drop @MustardTreeMCR a donation, they’re doing some important work at a crucial time, with furlough now coming to an end we are hearing of more and more hospitality (and other industries) redundancies."
The move has been praised on Twitter, with users posting: "A brilliant and innovative way of working with influencers instead of just posting abuse to them as some other operators do. Well done"
Another wrote: "Love this :) It's been hard for the hospitality industry especially and asking for freebies is just not right.. ATM. Feeding others is so much better :)"
