Uber Eats delivery
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LONDON – Uber and Just Eat Takeaway CEOs got involved in a public dispute on Wednesday after Uber announced it would plan to launch in Germany, a market that is currently dominated by Just Eat Takeaway.
Uber Eats will launch in Berlin in the coming weeks and potentially expand to other German cities in the coming months. The Financial Times first reported the news and it was confirmed to CNBC.
Just Eat Takeaway CEO Jitse Groen accused Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi of trying to “depress” his company’s price on Twitter on Wednesday. Shares of Just Eat Takeaway closed nearly 3%.
Khosrowshahi responded, “Tips: pay a little less attention to the short-term stock price and more attention to your technology and operations.”
Shortly afterwards, Groen responded, “If I can … start paying taxes, minimum wage and social security premiums before giving advice to the founder on how he should run his business.”
Uber operates its transportation service in 13 cities in Germany, but the company has never launched Uber Eats in what it considers a strategically important market.
An Uber spokesman told CNBC: “As part of our investment in Germany, we are excited to launch Uber Eats to unlock the full potential of Uber’s mobility and delivery platform.”
“Based on feedback from restaurants and communities, we believe there is a strong demand for more food delivery services and a more competitive market. We hope to help consumers, restaurants and workers access the benefits of the Uber Eats market very soon “.
In Europe, Uber Eats is currently available in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland. Approximately 24 million people used the app to order food at nearly 126,000 restaurants in Europe last year, as the blockades caused more people to order takeaway food.
“Europe, in particular, has been a bright spot for (Eats), both in terms of part of the growth we’ve seen, and also, frankly, in terms of strengthening our market position,” Pierre said. -Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber senior vice president of delivery reportedly told The Financial Times.
He added that Just Eat Takeaway effectively “dominates” the German market despite its “extraordinarily high” commission rates, according to the report. “This translates into consumers and traders being desperate for additional options,” he said.
Uber Eats has a commission of up to 30% for each order, depending on the services it offers.
Uber Eats has not fallen well wherever it has launched. The service withdrew from India last year and South Korea in 2019. Operations have also closed or sold to parts of Eastern Europe, South America and Africa.
Uber, which hopes to achieve profitability for the first time this year, said its food delivery messengers in Germany will be hired by fleet management companies hired at Uber.
The company will pay the fleet management companies for each order they place and it is up to them to decide how their employees pay.
Competition in food delivery
Just Eat (UK) and Takeaway.com (Netherlands) announced that they planned to merge in July 2019 as part of a £ 9 billion conversion deal.
Others have tried and failed to face Just Eat Takeaway in Germany, including UK-based Deliveroo, which withdrew from Germany in 2019 to focus on other markets.
Last June, Just Eat Takeaway, one of the world’s largest food delivery companies, announced plans to merge with Grubhub in the United States after Grubhub’s talks with Uber ended.