Why Uber Eats leaves Italy
The group halts food deliveries in 60 cities. Just a few months ago Uber Eats celebrated growth in Italy
Leafing through the press releases still present on the Uber Eats website, one almost immediately comes across this one with triumphal tones : "Uber Eats: 2021 a year of expansion". The text, dated January 17, 2022, goes further: "There are over 70 Italian cities where today it is possible to use the Uber Eats app and more than 7,000 restaurants have decided to rely on the Uber Eats app for food delivery: in this way, the app currently reaches over 35% of the entire Italian population. A capillary coverage that does not stop its run. In fact, many new cities will be added in the coming months, where thousands of citizens and local businesses will be able to access the services introduced by the platform." It is difficult to predict that another press release would follow in a few months, of a completely different scope: "Uber Eats is abandoning its operations in Italy".
THAT COMBINES UBER EATS IN ITALY
“Our journey with Uber Eats began in Milan in 2016. During these seven years we have reached over 60 cities in all Italian regions (in the previous CS they were 'over 70' ed ), working with thousands of partner restaurants that have been able to benefit from our services to expand their clientele and their business opportunities, especially in critical periods such as the one due to Covid. In these seven years, thousands of couriers and delivery partners have had the opportunity to earn easily and immediately through our app. In recent years, unfortunately, we have not grown in line with our expectations to ensure a sustainable business in the long term."
“WE WILL DO WHAT WE CAN FOR EMPLOYEES”
Then, in the second paragraph, the news finally arrives: “That is why today we are sad to announce that we have made the difficult decision to discontinue our food delivery operations in Italy via the Uber Eats app.” “Our main goal – explain the former startup – is now to do everything possible for our employees, in compliance with current laws, while ensuring a smooth transition for all our restaurants and couriers who use our platform."
“Despite this difficult decision – reads the CS again – we want to reaffirm our commitment to Italy, which we absolutely do not intend to abandon: this decision will allow us to focus even more on our mobility services, where we are registering significant growth. […] We want to thank all those who, over the years, have given us their trust, collaboration, affection, dedication and passion. Thank you all."
With the hangover of the pandemic lost, with the Italians going out again, the exponential growth recounted by the release relating to the 2021 data was therefore interrupted.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/perche-uber-eats-lascia-litalia/ on Thu, 15 Jun 2023 13:37:19 +0000.