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Your Personal Navigator in the Ever-Evolving World of Food Delivery

Week 10/6/2024

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?? Food Delivery

Cities crack down on food delivery drivers as complaints surge. Soaring demand for food delivered fast has spawned small armies of couriers — and increasing alarm — in big cities where scooters, motorcycles and mopeds zip in and out of traffic and hop onto pedestrian-filled sidewalks as their drivers race to drop off salads and sandwiches (Taipei Times ).

Half of UK Fast Food Delivery Drivers Are Working Illegally? The British political party Reform UK made the claim in a campaign video published on May 30 (Snopes ).

Zomato appeals amid heatwave: Don't order in ‘peak afternoon’; food delivery executives react. Food delivery app Zomato appeals customers to avoid placing orders during ‘peak afternoon’. But its delivery partners and customers wonder if this can work (Hindustan Times ). UAE and Saudi Arabia lead MENA’s booming food delivery market.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are driving impressive growth in the MENA food delivery sector, with orders up 10% in Q1 2024 (Logistics Middle East ).

Starbucks Teams Up With Food Delivery Platform Grubhub. Starbucks will partner with Grubhub to deliver coffees and other customised beverages in select US markets starting this month, in its latest attempt to widen its reach as inflation-hit customers are increasingly opting to eat at home (ESM ).

Zomato’s Caution On Afternoon Orders Amid Pan-India Heatwave Draws Flak. As India continues to reel under a severe heatwave, foodtech major Zomato asked its customers to refrain from ordering food during peak afternoon hours until absolutely necessary (Inc 42 ).

Meituan reports growth in revenue and profits, cuts losses by half on new initiatives. Chinese food delivery giant Meituan has reported better-than-expected earnings for the first three months of this year, posting a 25% revenue increase to RMB 73.3 billion ($10.1 billion) (Technode ).

Ultra-cheap meals from China’s delivery giant are hugely popular. Drivers are bearing the costs. Meituan’s group order program boomed amid China’s post-Covid-19 thrift economy, but delivery drivers say they’re working longer for less pay (Rest of world ).

America’s Takeout Food Preferences: A Decade of Change (Visual capitalist )

Baron Capital marks up Swiggy’s valuation to $15.1 Bn. US-based asset manager Baron Capital has marked up the valuation of Swiggy to $15.1 billion, according to regulatory filings with the US’ Securities and Exchange Commission (ENTRACKR ).

Food delivery, e-commerce platformunite to protect their delivery partners from heatwave (Economic Times ).

Baemin, South Korea’s Top Food Delivery App, to Impose Fees for Takeout Orders. Baemin, the leading food delivery app in South Korea, will start charging “packaging fees” for takeout orders from July 1 (Korea Bizwire ).

?Q-Commerce

Zomato-owned Blinkit responds to raid by Telangana Food Safety Department; know about the violations and how they affect your health. Notice will be issued and further action shall be taken accordingly, said Commissioner of Food Safety, Telangana, in a post on X (The Indian Express ).

Instacart Announces $500 Million Buyback, Third Since Debut. Company’s recent results spurred analyst recommendations (Bloomberg ).

Getir faces running out of cash amid impasse over rescue funding.?The rapid grocery delivery app, which has confirmed its departure from the UK market, has just weeks to access new money from leading investors (Sky News ).

Getir’s 2022 losses finally revealed ahead of UK exit and 1,500 job cuts. Getir has only just published its UK accounts for 2022 – and they make for grim reading (Yahoo Finance ).

?? Grocery Delivery

Amazon expands grocery delivery to all customers and launches member prices. Amazon has bolstered its grocery offer by introducing deliveries to all its customers in eligible cities across the UK and launching member pricing (Retail Gazette) .

27% of Americans Are Skipping Meals Because of Skyrocketing Food Costs, Survey Shows. And another 18% have considered applying for food stamps (Food&Wine ).

foodpanda introduces grocery label bright. Leading online food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda has introduced its own private label ‘bright’, allowing customers to shop for an expanded selection of groceries online available exclusively on all pandamart stores across Bangladesh, said a press release (Prothom Alo ).

???? Rest Tech

Big restaurant chains are tech laggards no more. Things like mobile ordering and digital loyalty programs are now table stakes for brands at the top of the Top 500 (Restaurant Business ).

Addressing The 'Food At Work' Boom: How Technology Is Shaping The Future Of Workplace Meals. Nabeel Alamgir is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lunchbox, a leading restaurant technology provider supporting over 5,000 locations nationwide (Forbes ).

Restaurants are having their biggest year ever. 2024 will be the U.S. restaurant industry's biggest year ever in sales — $1.1 trillion by the end of December, per National Restaurant Association estimates (Axios ).

AI is driving change in restaurant industry. Some restaurants are even trying out virtual staff who take customer orders over Zoom (Scripps News ).

New Technology Puts Financial Improvements on the Menu for Restaurants. Even as Main Street businesses outperform the rest of the economy, there’s a whole different set of rules for restaurants (PYMNTS ).

?? Delivery Tech

Walmart Expands Tech-Driven Services with Drone Deliveries and AI Assistant. Walmart is further integrating cutting-edge technology into its services, introducing drone deliveries into its app, expanding its InHome service, and launching a GenAI-powered shopping assistant (Drone life ).

Chinese drone scales new heights in Mount Everest supply delivery, waste removal missions. DJI’s FlyCart 30 could ‘revolutionise’ mountaineering logistics and safety, while reducing litter, but tech company faces uphill climb in US Congress (SCMP ).

?? E-commerce

Africa sees rise in e-commerce, digital marketplace. Online shopping is booming across Africa, with the digital marketplace estimated to grow to $75 billion by 2025. Big players like Amazon want to capitalize, but how can the continent unlock its e-commerce potential? (DW )

AI Is Re-Shaping E-Commerce. Here’s How To Use It To Free Your Time And Focus On Growth. It’s not easy to be an e-commerce entrepreneur today (Forbes ).

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