German start-up foodora plans to take Hong Kong’s online food-courier services upmarket

（South China Morning Post）"Wefocusonthetop25percentofthemarket,whichiscurrentlyinadequatelyserved,"MatPodesta,thechiefexecutiveatfoodoraHongKong,toldtheSouthChinaMorningPost.

"Wearethefirstinourindustrytogoforthehigh-endsegmentoffooddeliveryinHongKong."

TheexpansionoffoodorainthecitylastmonthfolloweditsmergerwithGermanrivalUrbanTaste,acompanyownedbyDeliveryHero.Thecombinedondemand,premiumfooddeliverybusinessesnowoperateunderthefoodorabrand.

FrankfurtlistedRocketInternet,whichlaunchedfoodorainOctoberlastyear,sold100percentofthestartuptoDeliveryHeroforanundisclosedamountearlylastmonth.

HeadquarteredinBerlin,DeliveryHerohasraisedaboutUS$1billioninfundingsinceitwasfoundedinMay2011.

CombinedwithUrbanTaste,foodorahasmorethan2,000premiumrestaurantssignedupacrossEurope,NorthAmericaandAsia.Thelargerfoodoraplanstodoublethatnumberoverthenextfewmonths.

InHongKong,foodorahassetitselfapartfromtraditional,massmarketdeliveryservicesinthecitybyworkingwithmorethan100premiumrestaurantssuchasDragoni,Iberico,CheckinTaipei,TheBossandLePortParfume,aswellasnoreservationestablishmentLittleBao.

"FewrealiseDragon hasverytalentedchefsservingsomeofHongKong'sbestChineseandJapanesefood,”saidDragonigeneralmanagerRaymondYoungofoneofthecity’smostfamousnightclubs.

“Withfoodora,wecannowextendtheDragon-iexperienceintohomesandoffices.”

Bytheendofthisyear,foodoraexpectstosignupatotalof400restaurants.

Theuseofanadvancedproprietarylogisticsalgorithmthatcanidentifytheclosestdriverforeachorder,aswellascoordinatetheentirepickupanddeliveryprocess,allowsfoodoratomakethefastestdeliverytimesinthebusiness,itsaid

Thenewlylaunchedfoodoraappenablesuserstoreceiveupdatesalongtheentireorderingprocess.

"Wearethefirstandonly[restaurantdeliveryservice]companyinHongKongthatachievesdeliverytimeswithin30minutes,"Podestasaid.

"Ontheoffchancethatwetake45minutesormoretodeliver,wegivecustomersavoucher,usuallyworthHK$50[US$6.45],orafullrefund."

Hesaidfoodora'sdeliveryteamemploysscootersbecausetheroadsinHongKongtendtobeunevenandchaotic.TheycurrentlydelivertoCentralandSheungWan,andwillsoonextendcoveragetoWanChai,CausewayBay,andTsimShaTsuiinKowloon.

AdaptingtothelocalterrainiswhatfoodoraisknownforinEurope,whereskilledcyclistsareemployedtomakedeliveries.

"Westronglybelievethatcontrollingtheentiredeliverychainandlogisticsprocessiskeytohavingastrongproduct,soweavoidoutsourcingdelivery,"Podestasaid.

ButhiringtherightdriverswasabigchallengeforfoodorainHongKong.

"Thishasmadeusbecomeintimatelyintouchwithsomeofthelocaldrivercommunities,"headded.

Bycomparison,globalfastfoodchainslikeMcDonald's,KFCandPizzaHutrunsomeofthecity'slargestfood-courieroperations,witheachemployinghundredsofdrivers.

Competitioninthelocalonlinefood-deliverymarkethasbecomemoreintenseinrecentmonthsasotherstart-upslaunchedtheirownappsandcourierservices.

TheseincludeDelivery.com,FoodbyFone,andanotherRocketInternetbackedservice,Foodpanda.

Podesta,whopreviouslyworkedasavicepresidentatinvestmentbankJPMorganinEurope,saidfoodorawasopentoalliancestocompetemoreeffectivelyinHongKong.

"Wehavealliancesthatarealreadytakingshape,"hesaid.

"WewillbelaunchinganewserviceinpartnershipwithMaiDanCatering,whichwilltapintotheirrelationshipswithcorporationsandourstrongon-demanddeliveryoperation."