Many restaurants, drivers and investors are losing: the merciless business of delivery services

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Street fight: delivery couriers in Paris. Often times, providers like Uber Eats only pay you per delivery. Critics speak of "modern slavery". However, the services do not earn any money.

Just before the corona pandemic paralyzes international air traffic, Lieferando founder Jörg Gerbig (39) quickly goes shopping. He lands at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, takes a taxi, and drives to the headquarters of Grubhub, one of the largest delivery services in the United States.

Gerbig, today Chief Operating Officer of the Dutch delivery service Just Eat Takeaway, to which Lieferando has been part for six years, meets with Grubhub leader Matt Maloney (43). Then they switch on Jitse Groen (42), the boss of Just Eat Takeaway, via video conference. Groen and Gerbig are takeover junkies. Almost two years ago they swallowed up the German competitors Pizza.de, Lieferheld and Foodora. At the beginning of 2020, the British rival Just Eat followed suit for seven billion euros.

Now the Dutchman wants to buy Grubhub for 6.5 billion euros; He and Maloney reported the details of their deal in early June. Groen knows that Uber's delivery division Uber Eats is also interested in Grubhub - and he definitely doesn't want to leave the lucrative business in New York and other east coast metropolises to his biggest competitor. The profits in America could otherwise finance the Uber Eats war of aggression in Europe.

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