Uber Eats loses appetite for Hong Kong market, will exit by year’s end
- Food delivery giant, among city’s big three, says it will be wrapping up operations due to slower-than-expected growth
- Company is ‘more committed than ever’, however, to growing its Hong Kong ride-hailing service
Food delivery giant Uber Eats revealed on Tuesday it would wind down its Hong Kong operations by year’s end after seeing slower-than-expected growth.
“Uber Eats has unfortunately not grown as expected in Hong Kong,” the company said in response to a Post inquiry. “This decision has been made independent of the global pandemic, and is in line with our broader strategy on Uber Eats.”
“After five years of partnering with restaurants and delivery people in Hong Kong, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Uber Eats in Hong Kong on December 31, 2021,” the company said earlier in the day.
Uber Eats said its priority was now to support its employees, restaurant partners, delivery people and customers as it moved towards shutting down, but added it was “more committed than ever” to growing its ride-hailing services in the city.
The spokesman said the company would continue providing support to customers and partners until the end of January.
In July, Uber Eats launched a campaign in support of the small and medium-sized restaurants that use its platform, snagging celebrity endorsements from singers Alfred Hui and Joyce Cheng.
In recent months, with almost no local transmission of the coronavirus, Hong Kong’s restaurant industry, along with other businesses such as hotels, have seen signs of recovery, and bookings are healthy for the year-end holiday season.
Although social-distancing restrictions limiting the number of people permitted at venues such as bars and restaurants remain in place, about a third of the city’s 16,000 restaurants can now seat up to six per table, as long as diners have received at least one dose of a vaccine and use the government’s “Leave Home Safe” risk-exposure app.
Uber driver numbers in Hong Kong surge during Covid-19 crisis
Latest data from SevenRooms, a booking platform used at more than 350 of Hong Kong’s high-end restaurants, showed people were dining out and spending more this year when compared with two years ago, before the pandemic hit.
Earlier this month, Foodpanda couriers, upset with a cut to their delivery fees and other issues, went on strike for two days.
The strike ended after the company agreed to make changes to its mobile app and fee calculation system as well as look into other demands.
