• foodpanda, the leading food delivery network across Asia Pacific, further extends its
  leadership position in the region with the launch in Japan, one of Asia’s biggest markets

• This is foodpanda’s 12th market in Asia

• Launching across six cities in the coming weeks, foodpanda partners businesses across
  Kobe, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Hiroshima, making food and grocery
  delivery accessible to all households

• As consumers seek greater choice and convenience, foodpanda will invest to grow “q-commerce” in Japan, delivering groceries and daily essentials beyond food within 25mins

JAPAN, 17 September 2020 – foodpanda, the leading food delivery network in Asia Pacific, today announced its launch in Japan, with a focus on expanding choice, speed and service for both consumers and businesses across the country. foodpanda begins its roll-out in Japan with six cities in the first phase – Kobe, Yokohama, Nagoya from 17th September 2020 and Sapporo, Fukuoka and Hiroshima from 1st October 2020 – where it will offer delivery services for food, groceries and more at the touch of a button.

Since its establishment in 2012, foodpanda has grown to be a leading food delivery network, operating in more than 300 cities in 11 markets in both mature and developing markets across Asia Pacific. Japan is foodpanda’s 12th market as it continues to expand its footprint in the region. foodpanda is a subsidiary of German food delivery firm Delivery Hero (ETR: DHER), the world’s largest food delivery network outside China. In Q2 2020, Delivery Hero reported a 166% increase in gross merchandise value (GMV) in its APAC operations and 44% increase in orders. Delivery Hero had also reported a new milestone of four million orders delivered globally in a single day.

According to Statista, the online food delivery segment in Japan is expected to show a revenue growth of 23.6% in 2020, a spike from the 14.4% growth seen in 2019. User penetration in Japan stands at 16.6%, compared to other markets in the region like Singapore (41%) and Hong Kong (36.7%), and holds further growth potential as COVID-19 increases consumer demand for safe and convenient doorstep deliveries for food and daily essentials.

“Amidst the ongoing pandemic, foodpanda has played an especially critical role in helping businesses stay viable, and grow through the new digital needs faced by the food and groceries industries across Asia. In the first half of 2020, we expedited onboarding and doubled the number of merchants and riders on our platform across the region so their businesses can survive the economic impact, while rider partners can continue to earn a living.” says Jakob Sebastian Angele, CEO, APAC at foodpanda.

Through heavy investments and a focus on technology, foodpanda has scaled rapidly to serve the markets affected by COVID-19 and help businesses digitalize to grow amidst a changing consumer landscape. foodpanda Japan will begin its operations in six selected cities, with the goal to further expand to more cities, targeted to be in the double digits by the end of 2020. By partnering with small, medium restaurants and grocery businesses as well as larger national partners, foodpanda offers a new platform that helps bring many of these businesses online for greater customer reach, and increased revenue.

“Today, we are extremely excited to launch in Japan to offer a strong platform that provides greater choice, speed and service to consumers and businesses in Japan. This is a market we have long admired, and this market expansion is an important step in making food and grocery delivery accessible to everyone in Asia,” says Eric Wei, CEO, foodpanda Japan.

Accelerating “q-commerce”, powered by technology

foodpanda will launch in Japan with a dual focus on growing its core food delivery business, as well as its quick-commerce, or q-commerce offerings where it partners with local retailers to provide daily essentials beyond food. q-commerce represents the next generation of e-commerce, where consumers are able to purchase their necessities on-demand, to be delivered within 25 minutes. In addition, the foodpanda app will also offer a pick-up feature where consumers are able to collect their orders personally in-store.

Building on almost a decade of experience operating in a diverse and complex region as well as heavy investment in technology, foodpanda places a strong emphasis on operational excellence to provide a best-in-class service to our ecosystem of consumers, vendors and riders. In recent months, foodpanda had expedited the roll-out of tech features such as enabling contactless deliveries by default for a safer delivery experience. For new riders in Japan, safety is a big priority and foodpanda has included training as part of the onboarding process.