There’s a new player entering the UK food market – and it comes from what may be a surprising source. If you have used the Uber app to order a taxi, you know that this is one of the fastest growing services in the country. It’s about to grow even further, with the addition of food delivery as UberEATS.
Deliveroo is already contesting this market, and now will see its position challenged. The takeaway food market is a lucrative field, and UberEATS will aim to gain a large slice of the pie.
Uber Joins the Race
Uber is already hugely popular, allowing people to make extra money by offering their cars as a taxi service. On the consumer end, it also allows users to get from A to B at a cheaper rate than they would with big taxi firms. It’s a new way of doing things: crowdsourcing something that, for so very long, has been the domain of private businesses.
The fact that the firm is so fast-growing, not just in the UK but around the world, is testament to the fact that the market is open to change. Uber is now challenging the status quo in another service: food delivery.
The idea behind firms like Deliveroo, and now UberEATS, is to have restaurant-quality food delivered to your home, rather than just the normal takeaway options.
Uber is serious about starting up. They are offering a £100 sign-on fee to new delivery partners, which is the term it uses to describe the drivers joining the fleet, although at the current moment it is only available to those in London.
The model mirrors one that it has already successfully launched in the US, so it’s clear they expect the venture to be a big success.
Uber said: “UberEATS has been hugely popular in every city around the world we have launched it in, so the fact we are exploring the UK market shouldn’t come as a surprise. We’re always looking at what other services we can bring to the market here.”
A New Campaign
Uber is looking to make a big push at the same time as launching UberEATS. They recently revealed to Buzzfeed that they would be launching their first major advertising campaign in the UK, rather than relying on word of mouth as they have done so far.
The campaign is to be titled “Get there with Uber”, and focuses on showing potential drivers that they may be able to generate useful income with the service. It suggests that driving for them could provide the funds to start up a small business of your own.
It’s not all plain sailing for the service: taxi firms have been making themselves heard on the issue, complaining that the app is unfair and is undermining their jobs. Some cities across Europe have seen major protests on the subject, with bans coming into practice in a few areas.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is unhappy with this state of affairs, and is encouraging member states to leave the sharing economy be. They feel that banning services such as Uber should be a last resort.
Job Opportunities
Those looking to make a little extra cash in the food industry should certainly look into whether UberEATS is a good part-time earner for them. Meanwhile, if you are looking for more permanent food jobs, then why not work for one of the restaurants that will be served by UberEATS?
Chef jobs are available through the Focus Management Consultants job search, and you can also find a range of other opportunities, such as ingredients jobs or other specialist positions.
