Reality bites: meal delivery company Foodpanda lays off 15 per cent of its Hong Kong staff
Company entered local market in 2014 and expanded its presence with two acquisitions last year
Start-up foodpanda laid off 15 per cent of its staff in Hong Kong on Friday as the company attempts to reboot its strategy in the city’s crowded food-delivery service market.
The dismissal of about 18 employees was confirmed to the South China Morning Post by foodpanda Hong Kong chief executive officer Alexander Roth, who said those let go were mostly from the operations side of the business, as opposed to its sales and account management departments.
Backed by Frankfurt-listed Rocket Internet, foodpanda entered the Hong Kong market in 2014. It acquired local food delivery companies Koziness and Dial a Dinner in February last year to quickly expand its local operation.
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“Management announced [that they will] let go of some of us to cut cost and to ensure that the company will become more profitable,” said one dismissed employee who declined to be named.
Another ex-employee said the cuts were made to boost margins for foodpanda, adding that the company was yet to turn a profit as it competes with other food-delivery companies in the market.
Roth declined to comment on foodpanda’s profitability.
Following the integration of Koziness and Dial a Dinner, we decided to streamline our team now to better align operational activities
“Over the last year, we have continuously optimised our processes and built tech innovations which have automated our order processing, rider and restaurant management systems,” he said.
