Meal delivery app Ele.me to use drones for takeaway food orders
But don’t expect to see drones landing food on your doorstep just yet
One of China’s biggest meal delivery apps says it’s received government permission to deliver food by drones to customers living on the outskirts of Shanghai -- with a few caveats.
The drones will only fly between fixed points. That means a human operator will need to gather meals from the restaurants and put them in the drone’s cargo box. And another operator will have to collect the meals from a drone drop-off point and deliver them to specific addresses.
Ele.me says the drones will help it deliver food faster, and customers will receive their takeaway within 20 minutes. It also says the distance traveled by each delivery driver will be reduced by 85%, thereby lowering operating costs significantly.