Foodora delivers by bike for 500 restaurants

Bike delivery service Foodora celebrates its first birthday today. With more than 600 bikes, it delivers meals in Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague for 500 restaurants. 

Food delivery is booming business

According to Foodora, an increasing number of customers wants their food delivered at home, at work or in the park. Its member restaurants experience a 35 % turnover growth every month, it says. “When we started out on Rokin’s top floor, we aimed high, but our current growth has even astonished us. Food delivery is a booming business”, Foodora Netherlands’ country manager, Vincent Hosman, said.

“Over the past year, the meal delivery market has been completely revolutionized. Customers can no longer only get fast food meals delivered at home, but they can also order quality meals. It is fantastic to see our service has been welcomed in Dutch cities, both with the consumer and with the restaurants”, Hosman claimed.

On demand economy

The startup’s growth spurt in the past year, is an example of the growing on demand economy. Foodora, as a service, is part of that economy and helps it grow as consumers get used to get products delivered at home whenever they choose.

“They no longer have to shop themselves or go to a restaurant to get a healthy and tasty meal. They can order fresh salads, fish and meat dishes from us. Even meals from a two Michelin star chef are available”, Hosman said.

Most orders in the capital are taken care of on Saturday evening, when hamburgers and pizzas are in high demand. The “unhealthy” eating and drinking habits during the weekend are usually balanced out with healthy food during the week, when lighter dishes like salads, sushi and soup are often ordered.

Worldwide growth as well

Foodora has also grown on a worldwide scale over the past year. It now has 8,412 partner restaurants, spread over 32 cities. Its bike delivery service employs 900 people and the 4,500 bike couriers rode 277,533 kilometers last year in order to deliver every meal. More than 10 % of that distance came from the Netherlands.

Startup food delivery service Foodora launched in October 2014 in Germany and arrived in Amsterdam in May 2015. Customers can order through the Android or iOS app or just use the website. Orders arrive at the customer’s door step within 30 minutes.