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Tag: Foodpanda

  • UberEats Singapore hits the road

    UberEats Singapore hits the road

    UberEats Singapore has launched, the ride-hailing app’s food-delivery service making its Asian debut.

    Using the standalone app, Singaporeans can order food from about 100 restaurants. While deliveries are initially limited to the central business and commercial area, the company plans to expand its service coverage as well as menu.

    Making its debut in Toronto early this year, the app expanded to four major US cities in March, and Uber began signing up restaurants and testing the service in Singapore last month.

    Singapore was also the first Asian market to have Uber’s ride service, in February 2013.

    UberEats is up against entrenched food-delivery services such as Rocket Internet-backed FoodPanda and Deliveroo, whose investors include Accel and DST Global. Using the map-routing algorithms Uber uses to connect drivers and passengers as quickly as possible, UberEats Singapore promises delivery within 35 minutes.

    It has raised US$9 billion in funding so far, and the delivery driver program is separate from ride-sharing, though drivers can do both.

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  • Zalora Thailand and Vietnam to be offloaded

    Zalora Thailand and Vietnam to be offloaded

    Rocket Internet is selling its Zalora Thailand and Vietnam eCommerce fashion sites.

    This follows the Alibaba Group investing in Rocket Internet’s Lazada, valued at US$1.5 billion. Zalora, which raised more than $250 million, was once on an equal footing with Lazada, according toTechCrunch.

    Southeast Asia did not have service from Amazon or eBay when Rocket started Lazada and Zalora in 2012, but the two outlets have posted heavy losses and experienced slow market growth.

    Zalora, part of the Global Fashion Group (GFG), covers 11 countries across Asia Pacific, including Australia, Indonesia and Taiwan. While its revenue rose 78 per cent to US$234 million last year, its net loss blew out 36 per cent to $105 million.

    Meanwhile, Rocket has announced a new strategy that takes it back to its roots, launching early-stage startups. It sold India-based Fab Furnish this month and Foodpanda Vietnam last year, and is said to be seeking buyers for Foodpanda India and eCommerce site Jabong.

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  • Foodpanda Hong Kong eats up rival

    Foodpanda Hong Kong eats up rival

    Foodpanda Hong Kong has just bought rival Delivery.com’s local operation to consolidate its leadership in the local food delivery market.

    The move is the latest by the five year old, 49 per cent Rocket Internet-owned startup to streamline its international operations, focusing on core Asian areas. Just a year ago, Foodpanda operated in 40 countries around the world. Now having exited Africa, Latin America and even some Asian countries, like Vietnam, the company is focusing on 24 in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

    Foodpanda Hong Kong has paid an undisclosed amount to buy the Delivery.com business, which focused more on the corporate sector and office workers. Besides taking a competitor out of the market, the deal will add depth to the flow of business during the day, adding more daytime turnover to the night-time, largely residential trade, where it is already strong.

    In a statement, Didier Bensadoun, president of Delivery.com Hong Kong, said the two businesses were the first two entrants into the maket, in 2014.

    “Working together we will continue to solidify a position of leadership.”

    Delivery.com marks Foodpanda Hong Kong’s third acqisition: It has already swallowed by local startups Dial a Dinner and Koziness.

    The company’s strategy is to acquire rivals to consolidate its market share. Where it cannot do that –in Vietnam, for example – it withdraws.

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  • Foodpanda answer to rumors

    Foodpanda answer to rumors

    Foodpanda India has rubbished reports it will close down, parent Rocket Internet saying the market is one of its fastest growing internationally.

    “We are extremely happy with the development of our business in India,” Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda India said in a statement emailed to Inside Retail Asia.

    “We are a global player in food ordering business, backed by a group of renowned investors. Whenever we have felt the need for investments we have invested and we will continue to do so.”

    Kochhar said the company is market leader in India’s online food sector.

    “We have achieved an outstanding rate of automation in India and have built incredible technological innovations that have dramatically improved our order processing, vendor management and delivery rider allocation.

    “Marketplace businesses generally require many years to turn profitable,” he continued. “We are happy to see this happening even faster at Foodpanda. Online food ordering is one of the most profitable internet business models and we are proving so in India as well.”

    Further, Kochhar told the Times of India the country is expected to be one of its top three globally by 2019.  Currently, its top markets are Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India and Malaysia.

    “We have no plans to exit from the Indian market. We are best placed to grow and consolidate our leadership in the Indian market,” Kochhar said.

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  • Foodpanda India ‘likely to close’

    Foodpanda India ‘likely to close’

    Foodpanda India appears likely to be shut down after parent Rocket Internet failed to find a buyer at a bargain basement price.

    It’s the latest chapter for the increasingly troubled Asian operations of Foodpanda which last monthgave up in Vietnam after failing to win market share off rivals and in Hong Kong axed its upmarket spinoff brand Foodora, merging the two businesses into one.

    India’s Economic Times reports Foodpanda is “desperately searching for a buyer” for the troubled Indian business, despite setting the price tag at just US$10 – $15 million.

    “Both Zomato and Swiggy have been approached for a buyout, besides one larger horizontal company. But Rocket is yet to garner keen interest from possible suitors for Foodpanda,” another source told theTimes of India.

    At the end of December, Foodpanda India laid off 300 staff , about 15 per cent of its local workforce, as it faced increasing competition from Zomato. The company said the redundancies were the result of achieving near 98 per cent automaticon of its ordering process.

    The Economic Times reports Rocket’s problems in India are not restricted to Foodpanda.

    “The Samwer brothers-led Rocket Internet’s interest in its Indian portfolio has been waning with most of its flagship firms, including FabFurnish and PrintVenue, being put on the block,” the newspaper said.

    It concluded that if a buyer for the sites cannot be found the company would simply close them.

  • Foodpanda Hong Kong partners with OpenRice

    Foodpanda Hong Kong partners with OpenRice

    Foodpanda Hong Kong has partnered with OpenRice Hong Kong, the city’s most comprehensive platform for sharing dining experiences through reviews and ratings.

    This cross-platform collaboration will allow Hong Kongers to order directly from Foodpanda’s partnered restaurants via OpenRice’s iOS, Android App or mobile-friendly website.

    openrice foodpanda

    “The strategic partnership with OpenRice has begun in other markets in Asia and now it’s finally in Hong Kong,” said Alexander Roth, MD of Foodpanda Hong Kong.

    ‘’We hope to provide an enhanced consumer experience by leveraging the strengths of both platforms in this partnership.”

    OpenRice MD Jan Wong said with her company’s app being the most popular dining guide in Hong Kong and Foodpanda a global player in online food delivery, it was a natural marriage.

    “With Foodpanda’s extensive coverage and services, up-to-date dining info and various dining services would be all-in-one in OpenRice, which greatly enhances gourmet dining experience”, said Wong.

    Launched in June 2014, the Foodpanda app has generated over 250,000 downloads in Hong Kong across iOS and Android platforms. The majority of users are aged 20 to 40, with an even split of  male and female professionals and families in Hong Kong. Foodpanda is also planning a new app release focused on enhancing user experience and usability.

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  • Foodpanda HK axes Foodora after just two months

    Foodpanda HK axes Foodora after just two months

    Just two months after its launch, Foodora, the upmarket sister site of Foodpanda Hong Kong has been axed.

    Inside Retail Hong Kong broke news of Foodora’s launch in late September and the company officially unveiled the concept in early October, saying it had 100 restaurants signed up after a trial in two suburbs: Central and Sheung Wan.

    “The company has set itself apart from traditional delivery services by working with big names in the restaurant scene, including the likes of Dragon-i, Iberico, Check-In Taipei,The Boss and Social Place. Restaurants such as Little Bao will for the first time offer hungry Hong Kongers an alternative to waiting in a queue for superior eats,” Foodora said at the time.

    But today, Foodpanda said those restaurant brands will now be listed alongside fastfood brands like Pizza Express on the parent site.

    It disguised the axing of the two month old project in a media statement proclaiming it has “drastically reduced delivery time” of all its orders to “an average” of 30 minutes, a key marketing plank of Foodora.

    “Sister company Foodora, launched in October this year, is also now integrated into the Foodpanda business, in order to have natural synergies and premium expertise. This new integration is an additional step to reinforce Foodpanda’s philosophy and expertise on providing the best food delivery services,” the statement said.

    The company says it has developed proprietary rider and restaurant software technology, using an advanced algorithm to optimise delivery courier routes and restaurant operations.

    “The company is now able to ensure that steps in the food ordering process occur faster than ever, bringing average delivery down to 30 minutes after the order confirmation.”

    Announcing the addition of Pizza Express, Oolaa, Mana Raw and Nosh by Secret Ingredient, among others, to its offer, Foodpanda Hong Kong MD Alexander Roth said it is Foodpanda’s mission “to deliver the best meals from the best restaurants to our customers as quickly as possible”.

    Foodpanda is encountering increasing difficulties rolling out its business model in Asia. Last month it closed its Vietnam operation after failing to make a dent in the market share of more efficient, established rivals (subsequently selling its database to one of them).  In Kuala Lumpur it is struggling to win customer confidence after buying up its rivals and shutting them down and operating a monopoly widely criticised for delivery times of often more than an hour, complaints of cold food and poor customer service.

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  • Foodpanda Vietnam gobbled up by rival

    Foodpanda Vietnam gobbled up by rival

    Days after announcing it was shutting down, Rocket Internet’s Foodpanda Vietnam has been bought by local rival Vietnammm.

    Vietnammm, the original online food delivery service in the commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire Foodpanda’s customer base and 1000 restaurant partners.

    “This deal enables Foodpanda’s customers and listed restaurants to keep making and receiving orders online in Vietnam,” the company said in a statement sent to Tech in Asia.

    The deal also marks a consolidation in Vietnam’s online food delivery space, which now becomes a battle between homegrown brands Vietnammm and Eat.vn.

    Vietnammm, established by young expat entrpereneuers, is now a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest online food delivery websites Takeaway, and Eat.vn is backed by VC Corp, one of the most prominent Vietnamese online media companies.

    Ralf Wenzel, co-founder and CEO of Foodpanda group, said: “Foodpanda has always been in the front line of market consolidation in the online food delivery sector by establishing clear number one positions in the vast majority of its countries and by conducting a number of complementary acquisitions in the past. This time we contribute our business in Vietnam which allows us to focus instead on more attractive core markets and helps Vietnammm to become the strongest local player.”

    Vietnammm CEO Jochem Lisser added: “We welcome all new customers and restaurants and will do everything we can to ensure a smooth transition to Vietnammm.com.”

    Last week, Foodpanda global head for communications Tim Schefenacker confirmed to Tech in Asia that they closed down the business in Vietnam because “we saw a smaller and rather long-term opportunity.”

    A December 2 notice of termination Foodpanda sent its partner restaurants stated that the company was suffering from a “financial situation” and “facing many difficulties” in the country. It further said that five days following the announcement – on December 7 – the company would have ceased all business activities, primarily its website Foodpanda.vn.

    Foodpanda launched in Vietnam under the HungryPanda banner in 2012, a time when competition in this sector was already heating up around Asia. In Vietnam, the company took a beating from the strong homegrown brands, forcing it to amp up marketing and advertising spend.

    Around the globe, Foodpanda and sister site Hellofood are competing head-on with a variety of meal delivery sites and apps. Foodpanda has gobbled up competitors in Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia, bringing its restaurant partners to more than 38,000 in 500 cities worldwide at the latest count.

  • Foodpanda Vietnam to shut down

    Foodpanda Vietnam to shut down

    Foodpanda – relentlessly marching its way across Southeast Asia, gobbling up rival food delivery businesses and creating monopolies – has shocked the online community by closing its Vietnam business.

    According to a report in online business news website Deal Street Asia the Rocket-Internet backed company has told its Vietnamese partners the operation will close on Wednesday after three years.

    “Through this notice, we would like to inform you that our company will terminate the business in Vietnam due to the difficulties in financial situation,” Foodpanda said in the letter.

    Deal Street Asia’s Vietnam-based writer was unable to reach Foodpanda Vietnam staff for further comment.

    One of the possible reasons for the market exit is that Foodpanda was a latecomer to the sector with the original, well-liked local service Vietnammm launched as long as five years ago and collaring the expat market which has the disposable income. Other rivals included Eat.vn and Deliverynow.vn.

    Furthermore, Foodpanda’s business model is to attain market dominance by buying out rivals, thus gaining insulation from poor customer service, slow delivery times and other faults – the exact situation in Malaysia which has now left it with brand reputation issues.

    Deal Street Asia says experts say Foodpanda’s business model is not relevant to Vietnamese consumers, where the younger demographic prefer to eat out and local food outlets offer their own delivery service. Others said Foodpanda had struggled with its communications strategy, which was not helped by changing its brand name within a year of launching there.

    Meanwhile, in India Foodpanda is in trouble over alleged fake listings, non-payment of money to restaurants, failure to refund customers for undelivered orders and corporate governance issues, according to website e27.co.

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  • Foodpanda Singapore to deliver food in 30 minutes

    Foodpanda Singapore to deliver food in 30 minutes

    foodpanda is promising to drastically reduce delivery time in Singapore to 30 minutes. This, it said, will be achieved by its own fleet of over 500 couriers, along with advanced delivery technology.

    “foodpanda’s service is all about delivering the most popular dishes around Singapore from kitchen to doorstep as quickly as possible. Having our own foodpanda fleet of riders means our service is now more consistent and speedier than ever, ensuring food consistently arrives on time,” said Jakob Angele, CEO for foodpanda Singapore.

    Using proprietary technology with advanced algorithm, delivery routes of riders are intelligently optimized.

    Recently, it signed partnerships with new healthy and popular restaurants to offer an even wider choice of healthy options at home and in the office. New partner
    restaurants include Sushi Burrito, District 10, The Assembly Ground and Nandos.

    foodpanda also exclusively offers delivery of hearty soups, stews, salads and sandwiches from The Soup Spoon.

    Anna Lim, Executive Director of The Soup Spoon Pte Ltd, says foodpanda’s fleet has allowed them to focus on more pressing elements such as service and the quality of food.

    “With foodpanda, we don’t have to dispatch our own staff or hire a third party delivery company anymore, which saves us an incredible amount of time,” she said. “We are also very pleased that each driver now has a receipt printer allowing them to have a copy of the bill – a common customer request.”

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  • Foodora Hong Kong launches with 100 restaurants

    Foodora Hong Kong launches with 100 restaurants

    Foodora Hong Kong – the expensive little sister of Foodpanda – claims it already has 100 restaurants and cafes on its books as it formally launches its service.

    Foodora – whose imminent launch was reported by Inside Retail Hong Kong on September 29 – has today formally announced its creation after a trial in two suburbs: Central and Sheung Wan.

    A key plank of its marketing message is “Hong Kong’s first 30-minute food delivery service” which Hong Kong locals may well greet with a degree of skepticism.

    But Foodora, which was founded in Germany last October, says its proprietary logistics system “determines the optimal route between restaurants and customers to help drivers navigate the dense traffic of Hong Kong”.

    “The company’s dedicated, uniformed and friendly delivery team ensures maximum food quality and transportation standards by not stacking orders and knowing their terrain extremely well,” it says in a statement.

    The Foodora app sends updates along the order process, allowing customers to monitor progress of their food’s preparation and despatch.

    Meanwhile, Foodora says it has more than 100 local restaurants on board for its Hong Kong launch.

    “The company has set itself apart from traditional delivery services by working with big names in the restaurant scene, including the likes of Dragon-i, Iberico, Check-In Taipei,The Boss and Social Place. Restaurants such as Little Bao will for the first time offer hungry Hong Kongers an alternative to waiting in a queue for superior eats.”

    “Few realise Dragon-I has very talented chefs serving some of Hong Kong’s best Chinese and Japanese food,” said Raymond Young, GM of Dragon-I.

    “With Foodora we can now extend the Dragon-I experience into homes and offices.”

    Foodora Hong Kong CEO Mat Podesta says Hong Kong is one of the world’s great global cities and as such should have access to world-class food delivery services.

    “Foodora wants to introduce a new benchmark of reliability, speed, and quality, bringing Hong Kongers what other markets already enjoy.”

    While the brand is still restricting delivery to just Central and Sheung Wan, Podesta says Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay will be added, along with an expanded list of 400 restaurants, by the end of the year.

    New customers can receive HK$50 off their first order with code: HELLOHONGKONG.

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  • Foodpanda’s sister Foodora Singapore bound

    Foodpanda’s sister Foodora Singapore bound

    Foodora – an upmarket little sister of mass market food delivery monopoly Foodpanda – is destined for Singapore.

    Foodora Singapore is best described as an “upscale Foodpanda”, a high-end food delivery service targeting cashed-up Millennials who want a higher standard of meal than quick service restaurant fare and faster delivery – and who parent Rocket Internet expects are happy to pay a premium for it.

    Rocket launched Foodora in Hong Kong earlier this year and a trial continues in two suburbs with more postcodes to be added later this year.

    A quick look at the Hong Kong website shows a clear family resemblance to the Foodpanda site, just a different coloured search button and a silver service platter logo in place of the smiling panda.

    But behind the scenes it is all different, we are assured.

    Chris Parrott, marketing MD with Foodora, said in an interview with e27 about the Hong Kong site that the two brands are targeting different clientele, albeit meeting the same need: food delivered to the door as quickly as possible.

    “Foodpanda is a sister company, so there is scope for knowledge-sharing. We have different target clientele, as our minimum basket size is US$25.8 (HK$200) and Foodpanda’s is variable,” Parrott explained.

    A key difference is the delivery time: Foodora promises within 30 minutes, which seems an overly ambitious promise; Foodpanda can take an hour or more, depending on the customer’s location.

    Foodora is now active in 14 countries and early this month took over Delivery Hero which is in 34 countries. Singapore will be next, with a website page already visible announcing “Coming soon”.

    The Hong Kong business is initially being promoted through blogs, food critics and Instagram.

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  • Foodpanda Malaysia expands

    Foodpanda Malaysia expands

    Foodpanda, Malaysia’s monopoly food delivery business, has relaunched its operations in Johor Bahru, in the nation’s south.

    Foodpanda Malaysia says it is “already a household name” in other major Malaysian cities – Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Melaka and Penang.

    “We are happy to be back in Johor Bahru. I think this service would add convenience to the residents in Johor Bahru,” said Uffe Jordan, MD of Foodpanda Malaysia.

    The relaunched service will start by offering online ordering and delivery of wellknown quick service restaurant brands such as Kenny Rogers Roasters, Nando’s, and Sakae Sushi.

    “We will be launching in the city centre and are looking forward to expand our delivery areas soon. We are also working on bringing in more local favorite restaurants in Johor Bahru,” said Uffe.

    Rocket Internet owned Foodpanda Group operates in 39 countries on five continents under its own name and the additional brand hellofood.

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  • Rocket Internet promises major Asian roll out

    Rocket Internet promises major Asian roll out

    Fast-expanding German startup Rocket Internet is promising its new joint venture spinoff will launch one new company per quarter in Asia.

    Rocket has partnered with Qatari telco Ooreedo to launch an Asia-Pacific spinoff venture APACIG to launch new companies. This despite it already operating some 20 companies, including online food delivery business Foodpanda and eCommerce portal Zalora.

    The fast-paced roll-out has already begun with the launch of Vaniday, an online marketplace for beauty and wellness professionals, to Australia. Vaniday was already operating in five nations outside of Asia after first starting in Brazil.

    Vaniday will soon expand across Southeast Asia, the company said today. It’s similar to Vanitee and Lookbooker in Singapore.

    The news comes as some of Rocket Internet’s other ventures, such as Easy Taxi, are struggling badly in Asia. The ride-hailing app, which focuses on licensed city cabs rather than Uber-esque regular cars, pulled out of Hong Kong, Indonesia, and India at the end of last year and seems to be having a rough ride in other Asian markets up against fast-growing homegrown challenger GrabTaxi.

    Easy Taxi is also a part of APACIG. Other APACIG ventures include Carmudi, Lamudi, Everjobs, and Helpling.

    “We are operating in highly diverse markets – from very developed ones such as Singapore and Australia to rising stars such as Myanmar and Pakistan,” said Hanno Stegmann, CEO of APACIG, in a statement.

    “Our portfolio of companies fits the macroeconomic trends of different regions and the demand for new online businesses.”

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  • New leadership for Foodpanda Malaysia

    New leadership for Foodpanda Malaysia

    Foodpanda, the global mobile food delivery marketplace has appointed new executives to lead the company’s Malaysian subsidiary.

    Joon Chan and Uffe Jordan have been appointed MDs of Foodpanda Malaysia.

    Chan is described as “a seasoned entrepreneur and executor” who after working in the venture capital industry, founded two regional startups and consulted for many across Southeast Asia for Foodpanda’s parent Rocket Internet.

    With Foodpanda having a virtual monopoly on home delivery food services in Malaysia, Chan says he is focused on improving the overall delivery experience of customers.

    “Our main goal is to be the best food delivery service in Malaysia and we will only strive to be the best”, he said.

    Uffe Jordan holds a Master of Science in Finance and Accounting from Copenhagen Business School. He worked more than five years for a Danish private equity firm before joining Foodpanda Malaysia.

    Uffe believes that there is still room for Foodpanda Malaysia to grow and says he will be expanding “the melting pot of restaurants” on Foodpanda, especially Malaysian favorites, with an emphasis of quality over quantity.

    Including the last funding round of US$100 million, Foodpanda globally has now raised over US$310 million since its launch in 2012. After acquiring key competitors in India, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, the company will use the recent investment to further expand its own delivery activities and improve overall customer experience across its 40 markets.

    Last-mile delivery has been part of Foodpanda’s operations since the beginning, and it says it will now accelerate its efforts to drive customer satisfaction, aiming to offer the most convenient way of ordering food – from the mobile app and online.