Uber Eats is helping SA dine in the dark during load shedding

It turns out, when the lights go out, South Africa still eats. Online food ordering services are thriving.

Last month, Mr Delivery food orders grew 150% on Valentine’s Day, recording 3 500 new customers. For Uber Eats, there’s been a pick-up on orders during load shedding, which equates to big business.

Rodrigo Arevelo, head of Uber Eats in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, made his first trip to South Africa last month and was briefed on the impact of load shedding on the business.

Rodrigo Arevelo, head of Uber Eats EMEA . Picture: Supplied

For him, the situation is unique. “We’re a tech company. We need to understand where we can help and what problems we can solve,” he says.

The growing infrastructure of online food ordering in South Africa is also intriguing. This year, Paarl was the latest area added to cities offering Uber Eats in the country.

“Right now, we’re focused on serving more people. People eat roughly 21 times a week and use apps to get those meals around twice. That feeds into quality. You don’t always get the food or quality you want – why can’t you rely on an app for that information?” he asks.

According to Arevelo, the company is already exploring virtual kitchens which have store fronts where you would have specific food choices, not just limited to restaurants available on the app in your area.

Picture: iStock

Presently, there are about 2 000 virtual restaurants in the world.

Uber Eats is not trying to be curators of people’s choices – but it does aim to provide more info. So, while users are free to order the meals they choose, Uber Eats wants to have a level of transparency where nutritional information is at a user’s fingertips.

This all feeds into the fact that Uber Eats wants to create options. Currently, 90% of restaurants around the world don’t do deliveries and for Arevelo, its all about leveraging that platform.

A good start then, in South Africa at least, where people can get meals when the power gets cut.

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