Food, being an ever-living commodity will continue to be a boon of human existence.
According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Lagos residents spent ₦830 billion ($2 billion) eating out in 2019; representing 34% of total food expenditure. However, the industry is constantly faced with challenges in productions, demand, and regulations coming from consumer trends.
Demand for food delivery services was at an all-time high during the pandemic. With more people stuck at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a surge in demand for food delivery services. This demand had a positive impact on the food delivery business.
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A lot of restaurants ventured into food delivery to respond to the crisis by introducing contactless delivery options to eliminate the risk of spreading the virus and this gave rise to a lot of Food tech startups that we now have today.
From roadside vendors to restaurant owners, we have seen food technology evolve over the years. As more and more people get busy with work, they have adopted a food tech lifestyle of ordering food.
Although the industry is dominated by small and medium enterprises, these startups have found ways to make buying of food easily accessible to anyone with a smartphone.
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Jumia food
Jumia food is owned by Jumia Nigeria and it is one of the most widely used food delivery platforms in Nigeria. The app allows users to order food based on their preferences and restaurant which runs from French, Italian, African, Chinese, etc.
You can order your favourite food from either their website or download the mobile app to your smartphone. A list of restaurants delivering to your location would be displayed. You can then proceed to select a restaurant, select the food you like, pay, and it would be delivered to your doorstep.
Jumia food is available in some states in Nigeria.
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OurEdenlife
Launched in April 2019 by three former Andela staffers: Nadayar Enegesi (who co-founded Andela), Prosper Otemuyiwa and Sim Momoh, OurEdenlife offers an efficient world where customers get food, laundry, and home cleaning done, with no friction, by their highly trained service providers.
The platform allows people to outsource tasks like laundry, house cleaning and meal delivery to professionals. The App is only available for users in Lagos. You can download the app on play store or apple store. When you sign up on Eden, you can configure a plan that fits your needs, then you get assigned a Gardener to help you manage your home.
During the pandemic, the company partnered with organizations whose staff have to work from home by delivering lunch daily
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Buyfood Africa
Buyfood Africa, another food startup gives food vendors a free website that helps them scale their food business and make profits. It offers search engine optimization that helps vendors get a wide range of customers and also transform their websites to improve business. Buyfood is aimed at promoting SMEs as well as increasing and boosting revenue for large scale food businesses.
GoFood
GoFood is an online delivery platform that presents restaurants and their menus to their customers. It gives clients the opportunity of listing their business, get a website and even go as far as developing their own mobile app with the same administration controlling it.
GoFood has given restaurants the opportunity to bring their businesses online. You can simply type in your location into the search box to begin. Alternatively, you can also download the GoFood app from the Google Play Store and order from the app.
Consumer demands and focus have changed in recent years due to the increasing focus by consumers on sustainability, health, and freshness. This has placed significant pressure on the food industry to become innovative.
What this means
Since the digital revolution hit the food sector, like any other industry, and the internet became the instrument through which the food industry could thrive, many people have taken their food businesses online.
The online food industry’s growth rates all around the world have proven that millions of consumers are keener on having groceries and meals delivered to them at the click of their phones rather than wasting their time shopping or waiting at a restaurant. Also, more restaurants will adopt home delivery services and more people will leverage on technology to build services that will impact the lives of people.
