Delivery Hero gives up delivery business in Germany again

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Bicycle courier in front of Delivery Hero headquarters in Berlin: Not lucrative enough

Photo: Hayoung Jeon / Shutterstock / EPA-EFE

Niklas Östberg knows his way around tough decisions.

Two years ago, the head of the delivery group Delivery Hero sold the entire German business with the Lieferheld brand and concentrated on foreign markets.

The company announced the glorious return, now under the name »Foodpanda«, last May, for example in cities such as Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.

But the second attempt did not last long either.

Delivery Hero announced that Foodpanda Germany will end its activities in six German cities.

Co-founder Östberg indirectly admitted that the German market is currently not lucrative enough and ties up too much money.

The decisions were not easy, said the CEO, but it has become increasingly difficult to "create real value for your own platform" in the affected markets.

Also sold in Japan

Above all, however, the competition grew stronger.

In addition to the market leader Just Eat Takeaway (Lieferando), the US travel agent Uber also wants to gain a stronger foothold in Germany with its Uber Eats service.

In addition, the US vendor Doordash is striving, among other things, with the planned acquisition of the Finnish vendor Wolt to Europe and Germany, but has recently started under its own flag in Stuttgart.

Delivery Hero is taking a similar step in Japan - and will soon put the entire Foodpanda business up for sale there too.

The move in Germany and Japan now allows funds to be shifted to attractive growth opportunities in other markets and businesses, according to the Dax group.

Wherever possible, Foodpanda employees are to find other positions in the Delivery Hero group or with partners, and severance packages are also planned, the company said.

rai / dpa