‘It’s basically not been touched’: foodpanda and Deliveroo join menagerie of online food delivery start-ups vying for Hong Kong’s nearly virgin market
There’s a battle playing out on the streets of Hong Kong between pandas and kangaroos - or at least icons shaped like these on bikes and satchels - as online food delivery companies vie for market share.
Frankfurt-listed Rocket Internet’s four-year-old online takeout delivery start-up foodpanda and recent arrival Deliveroo, a British start-up, are among a growing number of companies trying to tempt hungry Hongkongers to order meals online.
These two companies have ramped up their marketing recently by deploying people dressed as pandas and kangaroos, respectively, to drum up interest.
The market is still gigantic in Hong Kong. It’s basically not been touched. That’s how we see it,” Roth said. So I think it’s still very small and can grow very, very rapidly.
But a third major player, Delivery.com, which originally hails from New York, avoided using any animals in its ads when it expanded its corporate food delivery service to include individual customers last April.
All three say they chose Hong Kong in light of the territory’s high density, generous incomes and rapid adoption of new technology.
“This is a lifestyle thing. It’s a convenient way to eat,” said Justin Landsberger, one of two general managers for Deliveroo in the city.