Panel SA: Labor laws need to reconcile protection and flexibility, says iFood

Faced with the prospect of changes in the regulation of the activities of workers by apps in the administration of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the CEO of iFood, Fabricio Bloisi, says that the company is excited to “create an environment that works better “.

He claims that the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) was important 80 years ago, but today the market needs innovation, technology and flexibility. According to Bloisi, the ideal would be a balance capable of “embracing the future” and guaranteeing social protection.

“Although we are coming out of a polarized election, in which half of the population thinks the other half is completely wrong, and everyone sees themselves in the right half, we believe that both sides are important: social protection and economic freedom to do companies work well”, he says.

Lula said he will work on protecting app workers, who are the core of businesses like iFood. Should this be a big issue in the next government? How do you intend to position yourself?We took a position on this in the Sheet, a year ago, with an important article saying that we believed we needed new labor relations that would give us flexibility and autonomy for workers, but also social protection. The CLT was a super important advance in 1940, when it was written, and it did a lot to balance the market 80 years ago. Today, we have a market that needs innovation, new technology products, flexibility, which distributes work. Relationships happen through cell phones.

We need laws that allow Brazil to continue generating job opportunities, but connected with where we are going. As for putting more energy into social rights, we think that’s great. We have been pushing this theme. I think it is an opportunity for Brazil to be a country that manages to embrace the future, while guaranteeing social protection, which is a necessity for all companies. So, we are excited for us to be able to continue with this agenda next year.

Did any of your representatives make contact with members of Lula’s team or with himself on this matter after the election?iFood speaks to all political aspects, always reinforcing our position that we want more social protection, maintaining flexibility, which is even a demand from the couriers and partners themselves, so that we can create more work, keep the market running and well, also with the social protections that are necessary. We have been talking to all political parties and branches for two years about this matter.

And after the election there was no contact?After the election we haven’t spoken yet, but we intend to work together with the new government all next year, excited to create an environment that works better.

Would having the rules for app workers in the CLT make businesses like iFood unfeasible?We believe in balance at iFood. We believe that being innovative and investing in education and the future and being liberal to create new businesses is fundamental to generating value. And also, sharing this value is essential to have a less unequal society. So, even though we are coming out of a polarized election, in which half of the population thinks the other half is completely wrong, and everyone sees themselves as being in the right half, we believe that both sides are important: social protection and economic freedom for make companies work well.

What would be an example in practice? Paternity and maternity leave for the delivery man, for example?This dialectic of the type “you have social rights or you don’t” does not exist in our heads. We have a platform that generates opportunities for 2 million, 3 million people, and this has to happen with social rights that are reasonable, however, connected with the current moment of technology. The problem with current laws is that they were written at a time when there were no phones or smartphones or apps. Most app workers —and not just app workers but also delivery people, car people, home maintenance or cleaning people—don’t fit into the CLT format that exists today. There are many professionals who work on demand or by the hour. We need a law that guarantees social protection, social security, minimum wages, but that works in a more flexible model.

What can technology come to help with this issue and others?We are just getting started with technology. People always say that changes have been very fast in the last ten years. In the next ten there will be many more changes, even faster. The time for apps, social networks or videos on the internet has passed. What lies ahead is much more.

We have artificial intelligence changing all segments, from photography to journalism, to the financial world. It has an impact of robotics, of green technology. There is demand not only in lower carbon production, but also in renewable energy. Synthetic biology makes room for countless changes in how the whole world works.

And this is an opportunity, if we think that new companies are going to be created. New values ​​will be created for people, and we have the opportunity, in an emerging country that we are, to, on an equal footing, fight to build this future, which I think will be much better.

In the fight of apps at Cade [Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica] because of exclusivity with restaurants, what is the solution?iFood, in recent years, has focused on what we have to focus on, which is the best product for the customer, for the delivery person and for the restaurant. If you compare our customer, delivery person and restaurant satisfaction to competitors, it is consistently much higher at iFood. Some of our competitors sometimes say that it is because of the exclusivity that iFood is doing better than the competitors. In fact, we have data from all over Brazil that we offer the best product. iFood has some exclusive restaurants, a relatively small percentage. As well as Latin American competitors, Americans, Europeans and Chinese have it, which is a completely regular and legal practice in this market.

Cade asked us for some clarification on this. We did and we will continue as close as possible to Cade and the authorities. It is legitimate and normal for them to understand how competitive dynamics work to ensure that we are in a competitive environment that works well.

It is worth remembering that some of the competitors also make exclusive contracts just like those of iFood in their countries of origin. But they try to compete by criticizing something they do exactly the same. My suggestion is: improve the product, deliver more. Who knows the customer will be happier and will hire more competitors. We will continue to do this on iFood as well.

How is the benefits market, which you entered in recent years?The benefits market has had two or three large companies for many years offering a relatively equal product. The government changed some laws allowing more people to offer new products. We have to serve the worker better, offer better service, application. Today that’s not how it works. The benefits market is very focused on benefit companies selling to contracting companies, and nobody is thinking about how the customer uses this best. We are happy with the adjustment to the law that allows us to place the end customer at the center of the product. iFood is tiny in this market. We serve 600,000 people, but it’s a market of tens of millions. We think we can help with our technology.

How are the businesses with the acquisition of the slice of Prosus? Does it change the perspective of profitability?Who bought all of iFood was Movile, a company that I founded 20 years ago and which has always owned iFood since the beginning. So, iFood continues to belong to Movile, of which Prosus is the main partner. He had been the main partner for ten years. So it hasn’t changed who the partner is or who owns iFood, nothing has changed in terms of the corporate structure.

When will we see the drone deliver pizza?iFood has already been delivering by drone for a year and a half in some cities in Brazil. We also deliver with robots in some locations. Our robot is called Ada. And we continue to invest in artificial intelligence to have more automation. It is already a reality and it will be a hundredfold reality in the future.

iFood

Founded 11 years ago, it receives more than 65 million orders monthly in its app and has around 300,000 registered establishments, with 200,000 couriers in 1,700 cities across the country. It operates on other complementary fronts, such as fintech, market and benefits