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The stock market flop that Deliveroo suffered does not entail the entire industry is on the verge of collapse. Supper, still a small enterprise for the time being, is proof of that. This London-based meal delivery company specialises in top-notch gastronomy, and its concept seems to be catching on. Supper now wants to raise funds to expand its activities to cities such as New York and Dubai.
Michelin-starred chefs
A glance at the figures would suggest that six-year-old Supper is a small fish in a market where big sharks such as Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway.com and UberEats have little mercy for the competition. However, the company has positioned itself in an interesting niche. This is because the meal delivery company is aiming for the high-end segment of the market. Supper has barely 130 restaurants on offer, but it includes 15 Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as meals from luxury stores like Harrod’s and Fortnum & Mason. The company hopes to increase that amount to 200 swiftly. To finance its model, the delivery service charges restaurants a commission of between 22 and 25%.
Supper now wants to expand its concept further and is looking for five million pounds (six million euros) of fresh capital from private investors. Founder Peter Georgiou, a former bond trader, wants to launch his concept in other cities where he can find a combination of top-quality restaurants and customers who are willing to pay for it.
Gyroscopic technology
Because that is the key to Supper’s success: in its modest customer portfolio of 80,000 people, you can find elite footballers and top managers of big corporations. These customers appreciate a top service. For example, the company works with specific scooters that can store meals at different temperatures and are equipped with gyroscopic technology to ensure that Michelin-level food does not get tossed around during transport.
However, their main expense is Supper’s staff, who get hired as employees and are entitled to paid holidays. Georgiou likes to play this card to emphasise the difference with Deliveroo, which has to endure a lot of criticism because it employs its couriers as self-employed workers and thus avoids all kinds of social obligations. Talking to the Financial Times, the Supper boss claims that phones are ringing off the hook with restaurants wanting to work with Supper after it became known that Deliveroo couriers sometimes barely make 2 pounds (2.3 euros) an hour. Supper couriers are guaranteed a fixed wage of 9 pounds or 10.5 euros an hour.
