The battle of the UAE’s food delivery companies could get ugly, and restaurants will likely pay the price.
The Middle East’s largest online food ordering platform Talabat, which owns Zomato’s UAE business, is now only accepting exclusive partnerships with restaurants. This means it will only on-board new restaurants that have agreed to cancel their agreements with competitors Uber Eats and Deliveroo, according to emails seen by Arabian Business between an existing partner looking to on-board a new brand, and several senior Talabat executives.
“In light with the changing market, we [Talabat] have taken the decision to onboard brands exclusively. This is done in order to focus all our support to support partners to achieve the highest possible sales and grow excessively in the market. With that being said, if you wish to register your brand with Talabat, we will proceed with a key partner deal… This will allow you to sign with three platforms (Talabat, Carriage and Zomato),” the email says.
When the existing restaurant partner refuses to on-board the new brand under these conditions, another email in the same thread insists: “Due to the changing market, Talabat has decided to offer exclusivity partnership only with restaurants.”
The aggregator’s move comes as restaurants rely heavily on delivery companies to survive the coronavirus pandemic, with has led to the closure of brick and mortar branches in line with government measures to curb the spread of the virus through social distancing.
Kuwait-based Talabat is wholly-owned by German firm Delivery Hero, which also owns delivery start-up Carriage. In March it was also criticised for asking restaurants to offer 50 percent discounts in return for marketing highlights, while Zomato received backlash for offering to provide AED1,000 hygiene audits to restaurants amid the crisis. However it later said it regretted having sent the email, and has since offered loans and funds to cover lost earnings for its delivery partners, which will come out of the salaries of staff who have volunteered to take pay cuts, according to a statement by the company.
Aggregators, some of whom charge up to 35% in commission fees, have all – including Deliveroo and Uber Eats – refused to drop their rates despite pleas from restaurant partners, meaning it might be every man for himself in the world of F&B.
Arabian Business has contacted Talabat for a comment.
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