LONDON -- Amazon has led a funding round in British online food delivery company Deliveroo, pitting itself against Uber Eats and other smaller providers in an escalating battle to deliver takeaway meals.
The news that the world's biggest online retailer had taken a stake in one of Europe's fastest growing tech companies sent shockwaves through the sector, hitting shares in rivals Just Eat, Takeaway.com and Delivery Hero.
Deliveroo founder and CEO Will Shu said the investment would enable the group to further expand its reach, develop its technology and pursue innovations such as the launch of its own kitchens that can be rented to restaurants to meet demand.
Deliveroo said Amazon was the lead investor in a new $575 million funding round. The new Series G funding takes the total Deliveroo has raised to date to $1.53 billion.
Its existing investors are T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Co, and Greenoaks.
"Amazon has been an inspiration to me personally and to the company, and we look forward to working with such a customer-obsessed organisation," Shu said.
Headquartered in London, Deliveroo uses 60,000 riders dressed in black and teal jackets to deliver meals from over 80,000 restaurants and takeaway outlets in 14 countries including France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuwait.
In Britain it is locked in a battle with Uber Eats and the online platform Just Eat and its riders are a common sight carrying delivery boxes emblazoned with its kangaroo logo.
"We're impressed with Deliveroo's approach, and their dedication to providing customers with an ever increasing selection of great restaurants along with convenient delivery options," said Doug Gurr, Amazon UK Country manager.
"Will and his team have built an innovative technology and service, and we're excited to see what they do next."
The arrival of Amazon alarmed smaller rivals in the sector such as Just Eat, which saw its shares fall 10 percent in early trading over fears it would be squeezed between two online giants with global ambitions and deep pockets.
Just Eat had a market valuation of 4.6 billion pounds ($5.9 billion) prior to Friday's fall.
Amazon currently sells food in Britain through its Amazon Fresh, Amazon Pantry and Amazon Prime Now services and has a wholesale deal with supermarket Morrisons. But, according to market researchers Kantar Worldpanel, its UK grocery market share is still less than 1 percent.
It has previously tried and failed to run a restaurant delivery service in Britain.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - An Asian food hall in northwest London features Filipino flavors.
Manila Kitchen joins 25 other businesses at the Bang Bang Oriental food hall, situated in Colindale.
The restaurant, which opened in October 2017, offers traditional Filipino classics like kare-kare, chicken inasal, ginataang gulay, bangsilog, and halo-halo, as well as several other dishes with a modern twist.
It is owned and managed by Marc Malata – a chef whose passion for food came from his parents, Mario and Cathy of the restaurant Lutong Pinoy in Earls Court, west London.
The 28-year-old Malata told ABS-CBN Europe that he wanted to branch out. He saw Bang Bang Oriental, which opened last July, as a good opportunity to promote Filipino food to other communities.
“We thought it would be nice to try and make Filipino food more mainstream, and we felt there was no better place than an Oriental food court,” Malata said.
“Different people from other backgrounds try our cuisine to see what Filipino cuisine is all about. The fact that people are trying our food and we’re getting a good response is really good,” he added.
Manila Kitchen’s most popular dishes are the Filipino Brunch, which is a mix of lechon kawali, pork tocino, and a fried egg; and Boy Baboy, a mixed pork dish with grilled pork belly and spring rolls.
“We also have our modern dishes which we wanted to aim at the younger generations of Filipinos, like tocino and egg burger, tocino cheese fries, Filipino pork burger, ube cake, and custard,” Malata said.
The Bang Bang Oriental complex is the largest Asian food hall in London and seats up to 450 people. It houses shops specializing in cuisines from countries like China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Despite the fact that Filipino food is not as well-known or popular as other cuisines, Manila Kitchen’s assistant manager Dawn Dayrit is encouraged by the response they have already received.
“We do get a lot of people who haven’t even tried Filipino food who say, ‘We haven’t had anything, what do you recommend?’”
“After they finish their meals, they come back and say, ‘The meal was amazing, thank you,’ and that they will be coming back another time,” Dayrit said.
“We’ve also had customers who have been to the Philippines but have never had Filipino food back here in London. So when they see us, they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, I had this in the Philippines!’ They get quite excited when they see they can order it here, so that is quite good,” she added.
In an e-mail, Bang Bang Oriental’s marketing manager Ying-Chu Chen revealed that prior to Manila Kitchen’s arrival, they received online feedback from customers saying that a Filipino option was missing at the food court.
“We particularly liked Manila Kitchen's menu proposal because their brand is current and modern, which we believed is a good combination with our Bang Bang brand,” explained Chen.
“Manila Kitchen also has a successful restaurant in west London which gives us confidence in their capabilities. It brings a great variety to our food hall which has been well received by our Filipino customers as well as all other nationalities,” she added.
Manila Kitchen recently launched its delivery service for the local area through the British online food ordering company Deliveroo.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
