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.
