Deliveroo reports fourth quarter of growth acceleration: Deliveroo has reported growth accelerated for the fourth consecutive quarter, with group orders up 114% year-on-year to 71 million and gross transaction value up 130% year-on-year to £1.65 billion. Monthly active consumer base has grown 91% year-on-year to 7.1 million monthly active consumers on average in Quarter One 2021. Will Shu, Deliveroo founder and chief executive, said: “We are delighted with the Deliveroo Q1 results. Demand has been strong in both the UK&I and International markets driven by record new consumer growth and sustained engagement from our existing consumers. This is our fourth consecutive quarter of accelerating growth, but we are mindful of the uncertain impact of the lifting of covid-19 restrictions. So while we are confident that our value proposition will continue to attract consumers, restaurants, grocers and riders throughout 2021, we are taking a prudent approach to our full year guidance.” The company added: “Growth in the UKI business has accelerated, primarily driven by the addition of new consumers. Orders grew 121% year-on-year to 34 million and GTV increased 142% year-on-year to £852 million. This represents 22% growth in GTV vs. Q4 2020. The growth comes from all regions and the company has strengthened its leadership position in London, with gross transaction value in London growing by over 120% year-on-year. Deliveroo has executed well against geographic expansion targets. The company set out a goal to expand consumer population coverage from 53% at the beginning of 2021 to reach two thirds of the UK population by the end of the year. As of the end of Q1 2021, Deliveroo has reached over 60% of the UK population, adding over six million people to its coverage. This increased coverage is laying the foundation for future growth. Deliveroo’s international segment has also seen strong overall gross transaction value growth. Orders grew 108% year-on-year to 37 million and GTV increased 119% year-on-year to £794 million. Since Q1 2020, the International portfolio has experienced a variety of different lockdown restrictions at various times. While this has had an uneven impact on individual country year-over-year growth rates throughout our portfolio, the 24% growth experienced in Q1 2021 from Q4 2020 shows the strong momentum in the segment. Deliveroo works with over 117,000 restaurants as of the end of Q1 2021, and continues to increase the availability and choice to consumers on a neighbourhood by neighbourhood basis. Deliveroo also continues to rapidly develop the reach and breadth of its grocery offering, delivering year-on-year GTV growth of more than 700% in the first quarter, with groceries representing over 10% of the UKI GTV in Q1. Deliveroo has new grocery partners such as Carrefour across Europe, Conad in Italy and Giant in Singapore. Continued expansion of on demand grocery means that Deliveroo now works with Co-op, Aldi, Waitrose, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s in more than 1,000 sites across UKI. 80% of consumers acquired through grocery go on to transact with restaurants on the platform and Deliveroo utilises the same network of riders to service orders from both grocery and restaurants. Deliveroo’s subscription service Plus offers real value for consumers while driving increasing order frequency and retention for the company. In Q1 2021, Plus subscribers grew by 140% year-on-year. More than 10% of Deliveroo’s monthly active consumers are signed up to Plus and the programme has grown to over 20% of monthly active consumers in multiple markets. Deliveroo’s pioneering delivery-only kitchen network, Editions, continues to offer a superior consumer experience with better service levels and faster delivery – scoring six points higher in consumer NPS when compared to non-Editions orders. In Q1 2021, Deliveroo continued to bring partners such as Shake Shack and Dishoom to more Editions sites. Deliveroo’s Q1 growth across monthly active consumers, orders and gross transaction value was very strong. It is difficult to say how much of this growth has been driven by the special circumstances of the current lockdown restrictions in some of our markets. The company continues to operate in an uncertain environment given that the timing and impact of these restrictions being lifted in the coming weeks and months remain unknown. Deliveroo expects the rate of growth to decelerate as lockdowns ease, but the extent of the deceleration remains uncertain.”

Updated Propel Premium multi-site database highlights confidence of experiential concepts to continue opening sites: The updated Propel Premium multi-site database, which will be sent exclusively to subscribers on 30 April at noon, highlights the confidence experiential concepts have in the market as they continue to open sites. A host of experiential companies have either launched or secured additional venues since the most recent publication of the database at the end of March. An additional 47 companies have been added to the database so far since then. As well as the database, subscribers will receive a report detailing the new companies and highlighting the changes seen in the multi-site universe over the past month. The go-to database has the most comprehensive multi-site operator information in the sector – it provides company names, the people in charge, how many sites each firm operates, its trading name and its registered name at Companies House if different, and what each business specialises in. In a new feature this year, there is a synopsis of what the business does and significant news associated with it. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The regular single subscription rate of £395 plus VAT for operators and £495 plus VAT for suppliers remains the same. Premium subscribers already receive access to Propel’s library of lockdown videos and Friday Wrap interviews and will also receive a curated video library of sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. Propel Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel insights editor Mark Wingett. Email anne.steele@propelinfo.com to sign up. 

Wendy’s set to open in Stratford, east London: Wendy’s, the third-largest quick service restaurant chain in the US, has added a site in Stratford, east London, to its UK openings pipeline. Propel understands that the company has secured the former Pizza Hut site at 52/54 The Broadway, E15, for an opening later this summer. Earlier this week, Propel revealed that the company had lined up its first out-of-town site for its UK return, in Essex. The company, which plans to open five sites in the UK this year, with a target of eventually operating about 20 company-owned branches in Britain, is understood to be in advanced talks on taking a site at Thurrock Shopping Park. It is thought it could even be the location of its first UK drive-thru. The company plans to enter the UK with company-owned and operated restaurants in 2021 and, in its second phase, will launch in priority areas with multi-unit franchisee operators. It has already secured sites in Reading and Oxford, and is believed to have a strong pipeline of locations in place in the UK, including some drive-thrus. It recently applied for planning to open a site in Croydon, close to East Croydon Station. In March, the company said it plans to open ten sites in the UK next year, and that it had secured multiple locations and was engaged with several potential franchisees.

“Technical error” plays havoc with IPO bonus for Deliveroo riders: Deliveroo’s claims of having “world-leading technology” were left sounding distinctly hollow yesterday after a “technical error” played havoc with a £16 million flotation bonus for its most experienced riders. Top-performing riders had been promised a bonus of between £200 and £10,000 from a “thank you fund”. However, according to The Times, they were due to receive the money on Tuesday, but a few were paid as much as double the amount they were expecting in their in-app accounts. Some lucky couriers are said to have quickly moved the cash, prompting the food delivery company to halt all further transfers, including normal payments to riders not eligible for a bonus. At the same time, a few riders are thought to have missed out on an IPO bonus because of the “technical error”. Alex Marshall, president of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, which represents couriers, tweeted: “You’d think the workforce had been tortured enough ... but now Deliveroo have sent riders their ‘thank you’ fund twice only to suspend the cash-out feature and take it back hours later! A ‘British tech success’ that can’t even pay its workforce.” Last night Deliveroo said that the issues had been resolved and that all payments had been made. In a statement, it said: “A technical error meant a small number of riders were offered a higher payment than intended. We have apologised to riders for this confusion. The £16 million thank you fund has been paid in full and is a sign of our appreciation of their contribution.”

Heineken aims to decarbonise production by 2030: Heineken is aiming to decarbonise its own production by 2030 and its full value chain by 2040. This is the first in a series of refreshed Brew a Better World ambitions, which form part of the company’s new EverGreen balanced growth strategy. “In this Decade of Action1, we are committing to accelerating our actions to address climate change. We aim to be carbon neutral in our production sites by 2030 in order to meet the 1.5°C goal set by the Paris Agreement. We will further reduce our emissions through energy efficiency and speed up the transition towards renewable energy,” said Heineken’s chief executive Dolf van den Brink. “A large part of our overall carbon footprint beyond production comes from agriculture, packaging, distribution and cooling. This means we will work in close partnership with our suppliers and partners to reach our ambitious goal of a carbon neutral value chain by 2040. We know that Heineken can only thrive if our planet and our communities thrive. I want to thank our deeply committed employees for their passion for this topic. Together, we will do our part to brew a better world.”