Over the years, online food ordering and delivery technology have advanced significantly, allowing consumers to order from a wide variety of restaurants with ease and speed. The emerge of the pandemic has changed people’s lifestyles and habitudes, which has aided the sector’s expansion, allowing the food delivery market to increase by two to four times in the last two years, and the trend is projected to continue at a rapid pace. This year has been a strong year for the food delivery industry, both for consumers stuck at home and unable to go to restaurants or grocery shops and for investors looking to back up emerging stars to help them develop. The most recent twist in the story came: HungryPanda, a company that creates a friendly food delivery app aimed towards Chinese users outside of China.
HungryPanda, the leading food delivery platform in the developing global takeaway sector, has been named Deloitte’s U.K. Technology Fast 50 for its rapid development and creative business models. Due to its 2,435 percent growth over the last four years, it ranks 16th as the only food delivery platform on the list.
Food firms have never had it easier to reach out to their customers. Restaurant delivery has increased by 20% in the last five years; estimates vary, but internet meal delivery sales might reach $220 billion by 2023, accounting for 40% of overall restaurant sales. According to Deutsche Bank, the $24 billion online grocery sector will grow to 120 billion dollars by 2025.
This hypergrowth may have been speeded up by the huge influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was made possible by the symptoms suggestive of delivery models and fleet types. As platforms expand the range of services, this fight will spill over into other verticals beyond the restaurant.
HungryPanda, founded in 2017, is the largest Chinese meal delivery service in the world. It began in Nottingham, England, and has grown to over 60 cities in ten countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Hungry Panda received 90 million dollars in 2020 to expand its business as a food delivery service. The funding is being provided due to a rise in HungryPanda usage. It has currently accumulated more than 3 million users.
Food delivery is just the first step for the company. HungryPanda has begun to expand its business into the Asian grocery sector, focusing on overseas Chinese and local residents, to strengthen its position further as the industry leader in Asian food and grocery delivery. HungryPanda is dissatisfied with its current level of growth and is looking for new business concepts. In March 2021, HungryPanda launched its grocery business PandaFresh, a new niche market player among all grocery stores, PandaFresh also opened its own Fresh-branded physical food store in Birmingham in October 2021.
Besides, HungryPanda launched a new discounted business called VouchersPanda. Like Groupon, VouchersPanda connects local businesses with activities, travel, goods, and services, the majority of which are run by the Chinese retailers such as Chinese restaurants, massage stores, and KTVs.
PandaFresh and VouchersPanda are currently available in key cities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Canada and will soon expand to other HungryPanda countries.
Adding one function, then two, to the software prepares HungryPanda for future expansion. Asia has been a forerunner in this regard, with apps like WeChat and, more especially, those focusing on delivery services like Grab, carving out a niche for themselves as “super apps,” offering users with a wide range of services in addition to the app’s original function.
Consumers and organizations throughout the network are familiar with “super applications,” and they are widely used. So, in a world where some home-grown Chinese apps have struggled to break into international markets, HungryPanda, a U.K. app, finds itself in an interesting position, potentially as a partner or a strong competitor in those markets.
Indeed, it already sends consumers various offers from partner organizations that go far beyond basic food ordering. HungryPanda is attempting to draw more local inhabitants to Chinese restaurants and retailers to promote authentic Chinese culture, based on its mature experience with overseas Chinese groups. HungryPanda plans to grow its influence among local inhabitants in the near future and provide more English customer assistance to meet rising demand.