This Week in Food Delivery & Quick Commerce (17/02/24)

Hi all,

The new edition of the newsletter is out!

Highlights:

• EU deal on platform workers falls apart

• Instacart to cut 7% of staff, Q4 revenue misses estimates

• Delivery Hero had a good 2023

• DoorDash had a good Q4’23

• Korea to curb expansion of Chinese e-commerce firm

If you have any questions or feedback, you can always reach me at alex.foodeli@gmail.com or on Twitter at @a_jordanov

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💬 Quote of the Week

“Online food delivery apps and ride-hailing groups were bracing themselves for a wave of rider and driver strikes in the US, Canada and the UK on Wednesday, in a dispute over pay at a time when the companies are under pressure from investors to push for higher profits.

[…]

In the US, Gridwise Analytics found Uber drivers’ average monthly gross earnings in 2023 dropped 17 per cent and DoorDash rider earnings nudged down 0.1 per cent, though Lyft driver earnings increased 2.5 per cent compared with a year earlier.

Based on aggregation of its user data, Rodeo, an app used by UK delivery riders to track and analyse earnings, estimated that the average pay per order on Just Eat had dropped 9 per cent to £5.59 and declined 2 per cent on Uber Eats to £4.21 in 2023, compared with 2022.

Those pay declines for drivers come as the companies seek to show investors they can consistently turn a profit, after years of sustaining heavy losses in a battle for market share.”

Source: FT.com

📊 Infographic/Stats of the Week

Most food delivery markets in Southeast Asia experienced very modest, low single digit growth, with the exception of Vietnam, where total GMV grew almost 30% espite cost controls from almost all the players

Source: Momentum Works

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🚚 Deliveries

• EU deal on platform workers falls apart, pushing law into limbo

• Valentine’s Day strike to hit Uber, Deliveroo and Just Eat as workers unite over pay // Uber and Lyft drivers are planning a Valentine's Day strike

• Uber Raises Expectations for the Gig Economy

• Uber Shares Surge After Unveiling $7 Billion Buyback in First For Ride-Hailing Firm

• My Place Hotels of America taps Grubhub for food delivery

• Groups ask FDA to declare that restaurants must post calories on DoorDash, Uber Eats, and other ordering apps

• DoorDash's rising labor costs weigh on Q1 profit outlook, shares fall // DoorDash Stock Slides Despite Strong Earnings // Appetite for Delivery Drives Up DoorDash Revenue, Orders

• Wolt drivers in Larnaca strike over working conditions

• Delivery Hero says cash flow generation enough to settle debt maturities //

  Delivery Hero Might Not Sell Off Foodpanda In Southeast Asia After All

• Glovo starts hiring for expansion to Albania

• Mastercard Working with Glovo to Feed 300,000 School Children in Nigeria

• Korea takes steps to curb rapid expansion of Chinese e-commerce firms

• Food delivery sees first-ever transaction drop as Coupang, Yogiyo raise fees

• GoTo denies rumors on potential Grab merger deal

• China Market Update: March Of The Toreadors As Meituan Delivers

• Zomato summoned over 'false practice' of food from 'iconic restaurants'

• Swiggy’s Amazon-inspired playbook has restaurants crying foul

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🚀 Q-Commerce

• Instacart to cut 7% of staff, Q4 revenue misses estimates // Instacart to lay off 250 workers, part ways with 3 execs // Instacart Lays Off 7% of Staff Amid Rising Competition and Food Costs

• Glovo’s Daniel Alonso Moreno: Q-commerce will drive growth for local retailers in 2024

• Snappy Shopper partners with Co-op to enter Northern Irish market

• Cooperation between Flink and Rewe about to end?

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🍳 Dark Kitchens / Micro Kitchens / Virtual Brands

• How Ghost Kitchens Went From $1 Trillion Hype To A Struggling Business Model

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💰 Financing / Exits / Acquisitions

• Inspire Brands buys delivery tech firm Vromo

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💻 Other

• Yodel saved from collapse by fast-growing rival

• Inspire Brands buys delivery tech firm Vromo

• Uber, Lyft Differences Boil Down to Transportation vs End-to-End Mobility

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📜 Deeper reads

• The Future of Convenience Stores: Experience, Innovation, and Quick Commerce

• Zomato’s Blinkit Fortunes

• Zomato's restaurant onboarding push

• Robots Are Coming, but Restaurant Automation Is Far From Easy

• Delivering the Digital Restaurant: Revolutionizing restaurant delivery with automation and robots

• Vietnamese spend $3.8M daily on online food orders

• Europe Autonomous Last Mile Delivery Market Growth by 2028

• Restaurant report shows breakfast delivery rising, as are wages and financing

• How Uber Beat the Skeptics and Became Profitable

• Oscar Pierre: 'If Glovo had been acquired by any other large delivery company, I’d be out'

• Which company is winning the restaurant food delivery war?

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