Delivery Giant Deliveroo Tests Out Supermarket Food Delivery

Restaurant delivery platform Deliveroo will partner with Sainsbury’s supermarket to deliver its store-baked pizzas in a four week trial, with Deliveroo’s charge set at £2.50, according to Langton Capital. Under the trial, Sainsbury’s stores in Pimlico and Hornsey will sell pizzas, snacks, bags of salad and sweets, positioning the partnership as a weeknight dinner fix alternative to a standard takeaway.

A pizza from the Sainsbury’s counter costs £5.00; the pizzas on Deliveroo are £6.00, plus that delivery charge. The news comes after Deliveroo set up a ‘procurement’ service that promises restaurants “better” ingredients while taking a cut from suppliers; Morrisons supermarket recently considered using the platform for grocery delivery.

These new avenues are unlikely to stave off a persistent problem: the company’s future expansion plans, and by extension profitability, hinge on taking over and thereby eliminating the additional costs of at least one crucial element of its supply chain, be that restaurants, food, or riders.

Supply chain monopolisation could reduce food cost, but eliminating it from its model is literally impossible. That leaves restaurants or riders: Previous plans presented to investors have included automated kitchens and delivery robots, which executives maintain are no longer a priority. In short, if Deliveroo is going to succeed, someone’s going to suffer.