The high-stakes sport of chess (or, effectively, consolidation hen) that’s on-demand meals supply rolls on as we speak with somewhat extra territorial swapping in Europe: Barcelona-based Glovo has agreed to purchase three of Berlin-based Delivery Hero’s meals supply manufacturers in Central and Eastern Europe — with offers that it stated are price a complete worth of €170 million (~$208 million).
Specifically, it’s choosing up Delivery Hero’s foodpanda model in Romania and Bulgaria; the Donesi model in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Pauza in Croatia.
There’s some notable symmetry right here: Last yr Delivery Hero shelled out $272 million for a bunch of Glovo’s LatAm manufacturers, because the latter gave up on a area it had already began withdrawing from in its quest for profitability.
Glovo stated then that it will be specializing in “key markets where we can build a long-term sustainable business and continue to provide our unique multi-category offering to our customers”.
Earlier this month the Barcelona-based “deliver anything” app additionally introduced it was choosing up Ehrana, a neighborhood supply firm in Slovenia. So it’s been on fairly the (native) procuring spree of late.
Its current operational footprint covers markets in South West Europe, Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. So its consideration right here, on the Balkans, suggests it sees an opportunity to eke out worthwhile potential in additional of Central Europe too.
Glovo stated the transactions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia are anticipated to shut “within the next few weeks”, topic to fulfilment of closing situations and related regulatory approvals.
While it stated Romania will probably be accomplished following approval from the competitors authority — however gave no timeline for that.
Its splurge on Central and Eastern European rival meals supply manufacturers follows a $528 million Series F funding spherical in April — so it’s evidently not wanting VC money to burn spend.
Commenting in a press release, Oscar Pierre, Glovo CEO and co-founder, stated: “It’s always been central to our long-term strategy to focus on markets where we see clear opportunities to lead and where we can build a sustainable business. Central and Eastern Europe is a very important part of that plan. The region has really embraced on-demand delivery platforms and we’re very excited to be strengthening our presence and increasing our footprint in countries that continue to show enormous potential for growth.” 
In one other supporting assertion Delivery Hero made it clear it has greater fish to fry (than will be served as much as hungry clients within the Balkans) proper now.
“Delivery Hero has built a clear leading business in the Balkan region in the last couple of years. However, with a lot of operational priorities on our plate, we believe Glovo would be better positioned to continue building an amazing experience for our customers in this region,” stated Niklas Östberg, Delivery Hero CEO and co-founder.
A related, current improvement for Delivery Hero‘s business is the decision to re-enter its home market of Germany — Europe’s largest economic system — beneath its foodpanda model, beginning in its dwelling metropolis of Berlin this summer time (however with a nationwide growth deliberate to comply with).
This is notable as a result of again in 2018 it bought its German operations to a different on-demand meals supply rival, the Dutch large Takeaway.com — in a $1.1 billion deal which included the Lieferheld, Pizza.de and foodora manufacturers — briefly stepping out of the aggressive fray. (Meanwhile Takeaway.com has since merged with the U.Okay.’s Just Eat to develop into… Just Eat Takeaway so, uh, sustain.)
Delivery Hero is returning to Germany now as a result of it might, and since the market is large. A two-year non-compete clause between it and Just Eat Takeaway lately expired — permitting for reheating (rehashing?) of the aggressive meals supply combine in German cities.
Speaking to the FT again in May about this market return, Östberg steered Delivery Hero has girded itself (and its traders) for a protracted battle.
“We don’t see necessarily that we are going to go in and win the market in the next year or so. This is a 10-year game,” he stated. “Of course we will definitely make sure we put in enough money to be the clear No. 2, the clear challenger [to Just Eat Takeaway.com].”
Winning at meals supply is actually a(n costly) marathon, not a dash.
There are additionally, after all, a number of races being run in markets world wide, relying on native situations and aggressive combine — with the prospect that the winner of the most important and most profitable races will attain such a place of VC-sponsored glory that it might purchase up the highest rivals from the smaller races and consolidate the whole lot — maximizing economies of scale and gaining the flexibility to squeeze out contemporary competitors to seize a juicy revenue for themselves.
Or, effectively, that’s the speculation. Competition regulators are prone to take growing curiosity on this house, for one factor. Rising consciousness of gig economic system employees rights can also be placing stress on the mannequin.
For now, the thin-margin meals supply enterprise wants the appropriate base situations to outlive. The mannequin solely features in cities and ideally in extremely dense city environments. Most of the gamers on this house additionally don’t make use of the armies of riders which can be wanted to make deliveries — as a result of doing so would make the mannequin much more pricey. And in Europe political consideration on gig economic system employees rights might pressure reforms that elevate regional operational prices, placing additional stress on margins.
Spain has its personal labor reforms in practice that may have an effect on Glovo in its dwelling market, for instance.
Achieving sustainability (i.e. profitability with out the necessity for ongoing VC funding injections) stays an enormous hurdle for supply apps. It will seemingly require large market consolidation and/or convincing customers to change from making the occasional order of a sizzling meal on a weekend to counting on app-based supply for a lot extra of their native procuring wants — not simply lunch/dinner however groceries and toiletries, and different fast paced customers items and home goods.
It’s notable that tremendous quick grocery supply is a serious focus for Glovo, for instance — which has lately been constructing out networks of internal metropolis darkish shops to service in-app comfort retailer procuring.
Lots of different on-demand app gamers are additionally ramping up on that entrance. Including Delivery Hero — which has been paying extra consideration to groceries (choosing up InstaShop final yr in a deal price $360 million).
Glovo constructing out in Central Europe whereas exiting markets additional afield suggests it believes it might use a concentrated market footprint to drive operational efficiencies and powerful order margins by way of a tightly built-in meal supply and darkish retailer play.
If it might try this — and provide at the very least the whiff of profitability — it might make its enterprise a gorgeous future acquisition goal for a bigger world large that’s trying to up the “consolidation chicken” stakes by bolting on new areas.
A bigger participant like Delivery Hero might even be a possible future suitor — having proven it’s blissful to return to markets it left earlier. After all, it certainly is aware of Glovo’s enterprise fairly effectively since they’ve completed plenty of market swaps. But, for now, that’s pure hypothesis.
Zooming out, what the on-demand mannequin of app-based city comfort means for the way forward for city environments is an entire different query — and one which each competitors and concrete regulators might want to ponder very fastidiously.
If the push to scale supply platforms drives unstoppable consolidation that sees smaller gamers wolfed up by a number of world giants — that may then use their measurement and scale to outcompete native retailers — it could spell much more darkish instances for the normal High Street and its family-run bodegas.
Local retail in lots of locations has already been hammered by Internet giants like Amazon. Delivery apps are one other excessive tech menace to bricks-and-mortar procuring. Touch of a button comfort does carry wider prices.