Zomato stop's food delivery in the UAE. What does this mean for the food delivery industry?

A major turn of events to unfold in the UAE food delivery industry as Zomato decided to stop food delivery operations in UAE on the 24th of November 2022. ‍

“We would like to update the exchange that the Company will discontinue rendering of services to Talabat in the UAE w.e.f. November 24, 2022,” as informed by Zomato CEO and Founder to the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.

For the uninitiated, earlier in 2019, the food delivery giant, Zomato had sold off its UAE Food Delivery operations to Talabat, a wholly-owned subsidiary of German firm, Delivery Hero Group, for a whopping $172 million in order to battle local rival Swiggy for dominance in India. Whilst the decision seemed to put Zomato in a better position at the time, the industry had other plans.

In the increasingly competitive food delivery market of UAE, this move had strengthened buyer’s position and saw their monthly orders and revenue increase drastically. Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, had stated earlier this year that the company is only going to focus on its operations in India. He also added that international businesses don’t fit in their roadmap anymore.

Is it possible that the company may have been hinting to pull out  from the UAE market before the world even saw it coming? We’ll never know! but since the 24th of November, customers trying to order food on the Zomato app in UAE are being redirected to Talabat, as per the latest announcement from Zomato.

As a food delivery platform, we at Yalah collectively express our solidarity with Zomato Owners, Zomato Users and more importantly to the Zomans (Zomato Staff) who have been involved in building such a successful online ordering platform over the years.

During these testing times, we at Yalah are trying to support where possible and absorb as much talent as we can. We have opened positions across our business teams, technical, operations and support teams at Yalah and prioritized talent that have abruptly been made redundant in the region.
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What would this mean for the food delivery industry in UAE?

Whilst Zomato’s dining-out and restaurant discovery services in the UAE continue to be available on their application, the redirection of its users to another platform for food delivery services will mean a major chunk of food orders will now be processed by the latter’s app. Will it be a hassle free, timely, seamless transition for restaurants and customers? Only time will tell.
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Why should Yalah be a part of the industry?

Yalah is a visionary app built upon transparency, giving and spreading happiness. As an originative aggregator that brings ground breaking value to a forward looking ecosystem. We offer to the customers and restaurant owners a slew of features that are actually mutually beneficial and hold the power to put ones restaurant brand in the limelight for all good reasons! Teeming with uniqueness, Yalah brings a holistic experience that is unmatchably rewarding and fair.

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What can Yalah do for the industry?

We are on our way to become a restaurant’s best friend and a foodie’s heaven, the two main stakeholders you need to be able to manifest a stronger industry. We are looking to preemptively support and reward all stakeholders of the ecosystem.

For Restaurants: Restaurants can officially sign up with Yalah at exclusive pre-launch rates to be part of the exciting journey ahead by registering here.

For Users: Users can now pre-register to be part of the initial BETA launch by downloading the “Yalah: Food Delivery” application from either the Google Play Store or iOS App Store. As enticing it may be, please do not order just yet as our BETA launch is yet to take place in the coming weeks. All those that have pre-registered will be notified 24 hours prior to the launch.
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Find out more about the food delivery of dreams on www.yalah.co.‍