Deliveroo drives out of Germany amid competition

The Amazon-backed Deliveroo food-delivery service will cease operations in Germany this week to focus on other markets in Europe and amid competition from a rival.

The withdrawal of Deliveroo, which says it has 1,100 riders in five cities and just under 100 employees in Germany reduces competition for Dutch rival Takeaway.com, which last year agreed to buy larger competitor Delivery Hero’s business in the German food delivery market.

Deliveroo's decision comes as Takeaway.com and British rival Just Eat finalise terms of a deal to create a global food-delivery firm that will be a market leader in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada.

“We’ve decided to focus on other markets," said a Deliveroo spokesman.

Deliveroo will shift its resources and investment towards boosting growth and expanding in markets around Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

Deliveroo was growing rapidly in the UK and France, its top markets, while Spain and Italy were growing too, he said.

Reuters and Bloomberg