DoorDash plan in Half Moon Bay could change food delivery forever
Inside Fattoria e Mare’s kitchen, chef-owner Pablo Estrada added last-minute touches to pasta pomodoro before pouring the bright red noodles into a plastic container. This looks like a standard scene in the modern delivery food era, but unlike normal takeout, these containers could soon come back to Estrada’s kitchen rather than ending up in a landfill.
Fattoria e Mare is among 12 Half Moon Bay restaurants participating in a new reusable food container pilot program from DoorDash called DashLoop. The program is operating from February through the end of April and offers participants free reusable containers, which can be used up to 100 times. Customers automatically get their orders delivered in the reusable containers that resemble Tupperware, which they can later drop off in bins at each participating restaurant.
Throughout the week, DoorDash collects containers for cleaning and sanitizing before returning them to DashLoop restaurants.
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A DashLoop by DoorDash bin is seen inside Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
Reusable containers are filled with lunch orders as part of DoorDash’s DashLoop program at Ketch Harbor Pub in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Monday, March 16, 2026.
Stacks of empty DashLoop by DoorDash reusable containers are seen at Fattoria e Mare in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on March 13, 2026.
Estrada said he was eager to join the pilot program when DoorDash reached out because the program aligns with his commitment to sustainability. He also thinks the containers work great with the Italian cuisine prepared at Fattoria e Mare.
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“These containers feel secure even when I do pasta,” Estrada said. “The other day, I made pasta for myself to go, and after 45 minutes, it was still in good shape. Pasta tends to stick when you put it in a to-go container, but these hold very........
