Meituan arrives in HK, expected to stimulate food delivery market

Meituan, the leading Mainland food delivery platform, has announced its future launch in Hong Kong with information showing that it has recently opened the recruitment of delivery riders.

According to reports from the Mainland media, many HK people hope that the Mainland platform can stimulate more active development of the whole industry in HK.

The epidemic has made HK's delivery industry more or less a necessity for some groups, but it remains to be seen whether it will continue to grow. Although HK is a gourmet city, the food delivery industry needs to be more satisfactory.

Currently, the main platforms for food delivery in HK include Deliveroo and Foodpanda, both of whose delivery fees often start at HK$20 compared to RMB 3-5 in the Mainland, which can be even higher during peak hours.

During the epidemic, HK people's demand for food delivery surged and business on these platforms was once booming, but problems such as high food prices, high delivery fees, and inadequate refund or complaint mechanisms have not been fully resolved and still exist today.

Foodpanda has said that its actual profit is not high because it has invested resources in increasing manpower and improving the customer experience. The financial report of its parent company Delivery Hero showed that even in the first half of last year when the epidemic was severe and the demand for delivery was soaring, the company's business in Asia had not yet reached break-even.

Uber Eats, which once formed a triumvirate with Deliveroo and Foodpanda, even failed to reap the dividends of the epidemic and left HK at the end of 2021.

Many HK people hope the Mainland platform can stimulate the industry to bring consumers more inexpensive and quality service since local platforms have always struggled to satisfy them.