For many businesses, the past year is best consigned to the history books. However, for talabat, 2020 has presented remarkable identity growth through helping the organisation to confirm who they are and what they stand for.
“At talabat, we love what we do, and helping others is a key part of this,” talabat CEO Tomaso Rodriguez says, speaking exclusively to CEO Middle East. “Simply put, we are passionate about creating amazing experiences for our ecosystem – our partner restaurants, customers, riders, communities, and our employees alike.
“However, creating amazing experiences is only half of what we do. The other half is being truly passionate about the communities that we serve. If the pandemic has taught us one thing as people, it is that we need to be able to take stock at important junctions in life and in business, and ask whether we have truly done all that we could to help?
“That’s where we have refined our purpose this year, our sense of community; helping and giving back. In previous years, our efforts were scattered, however during the pandemic, we were able to prioritise and focus our efforts on those that needed it the most.
“I firmly believe that during the pandemic our employees’ purpose-driven culture evolved from an understanding of the fragility of our ecosystem – and how daily decisions they made directly affected its survival and public safety. For us, being a purpose-driven organisation is at the heart of who we are.”
Keeping the lights on
“At the start of the pandemic, the safety of our entire ecosystem was our number one priority – our customers, riders, partners and our community,” Rodriguez says.
One example of the fragility of the ecosystem which Rodriguez allude to was the need to help restaurant partners ‘keep the lights on.’ Typically restaurants have the least cash reserves, with a JPMorgan Chase Institute study showing they have a median of 16 days or thereabouts, which at the start of an at-least year-long pandemic made for tough reading.
“Covid-19 has been a disaster for many industries, with F&B being one of the worst impacted. Overnight, our restaurant partners saw their dine-in revenue evaporate, due to people needing to stay safe and at home. Initially, they also saw much of their delivery revenue drop, mainly because people were worried about food being contaminated. We needed to ensure that we won consumer trust back. It was a challenging time for everyone involved, especially our restaurant partners.”
To gain consumer trust back, talabat focussed on short term as well as long term projects to help ensure the viability of the entire ecosystem. This included being first in the region to implement solutions such as safety equipment and contactless delivery, which in turn opened up conversations with government, paving the way for the delivery industry to continue to operate in many of its markets, throughout various lockdowns and curfews.
This was a critical first step to helping to secure the livelihoods of many of their restaurant partners – their employees, their families, their well-beings.
Talabat is continuing to focus on opportunities in its ecosystem
“Governments played a critical role throughout the region; they handled the situation very well and successfully guided their people through these difficult times. We are deeply grateful for their collaboration with us and their community focus during the pandemic.
“To allow delivery to continue to operate in many markets gave the restaurant ecosystems a lifeline, which many otherwise would have collapsed entirely. When we were able to show our commitment to safety, we were able to work together to ensure that people stayed safe at home.”
In addition to safety solutions and government collaboration, to further support restaurant partners, talabat also offered customers free delivery campaigns and smart choice campaigns to encourage ordering from their local restaurants during the early-stages of the pandemic, as well as investing heavily in marketing, 2.5 times more than average, to attract new as well as returning customers.
In terms of long-term initiatives, talabat also provided six-month commission deferments to restaurants and made payment schedules more flexible, to accommodate different cashflow statuses of their partners.
“We’re proud to say that with our help, restaurants right across the region were able to keep the lights on through the worst of the pandemic in our eight different markets, and after that, on average, have seen 25 percent growth across their delivery business. When we talk about a purpose-driven business – to have a significant impact on the livelihoods – particularly of our small-medium restaurants partners during this period, is something that we are truly thankful for.”
Talabat Mart delivers groceries to customers’ homes in 30 minutes or less
Giving back
“Giving back directly relates to our refined purpose. It is in our DNA. We want to support our communities as much as we can. Where we are today is down to their commitment over many years, and we will do what we can to give back,” Rodriguez says.
This mantra is supported through talabat’s charitable donations. During the pandemic, talabat donated or facilitated the donation and delivery of over 343,000 meals plus 42,000 medicine deliveries to chronically ill patients, through collaboration with governments, local entities, or their wider business network. All of these were delivered by talabat’s helmeted heroes, helping the recipients to stay safe and stay home.
To facilitate donations through its app, talabat created ‘virtual restaurants,’ where customers were able to safely donate meals and groceries to people in need. Furthermore, through its newly created loyalty programme, talabat has partnered with the UNHCR, enabling customers to support specific charitable endeavours around meal donations.
Talabat has also contributed to efforts outside of their own markets too, including the floods in Sudan, and the port explosion in Lebanon. These initiatives were undoubtedly headlined by the #LunchforLebanon campaign where talabat donated their gross profit from a 12-2pm period, as well as an extra €150,000 ($182,754) through the Red Cross in support of the entire Lebanese restaurant community across the region, to aid recovery efforts.
Talabat donated $1m during 2020, where $600,000 was given directly from talabat to various NGOs and governments to support in fighting the pandemic and $400,000 by its customers/partners.
Talabat donated $1m during 2020 to various NGOs and governments to support in fighting the pandemic
2021 – A defining year for talabat?
Understandably, Rodriguez is hoping that 2021 proves to be a far more stable and positive year than 2020. Looking ahead to 2021, he says the organisation has some bold ideas for the future, and sees continuing to focus on opportunities in its ecosystem, becoming better partners, hypergrowth in Egypt, and launching Iraq as major priorities.
These opportunities, particularly the rapid expansion of talabat’s delivery-only grocery business, talabat mart and development of their delivery-only cloud kitchens, along with its traditional delivery business, have created a platform where talabat is poised for exponential growth in 2021, a year which could potentially be the most defining in its short 17-year history.
In late 2019 and 2020, talabat started to lay the foundations for a new concept, investing AED65m ($17.7m) into the MENA region for the launch and subsequent expansion of its quick-commerce, delivery-only grocery business, talabat Mart.
The service, which delivers groceries to customers’ homes in 30 minutes or less, has been instrumental in helping people stay home and stay safe throughout the pandemic, and also offers a defining feature that none of talabat’s competitors can compete with, the speed of delivery. In just over a year and a half, talabat now has 40 marts in five markets – Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan and is expected to at least triple that number in 2021.
“Quick-commerce is one of our plays for the future of delivery, and the natural evolution from traditional e-commerce. We are redefining what grocery delivery means to customers, in terms of consistency, speed and convenience. We’ve now made it easier, more time-efficient and more cost-effective for customers to order online for both a full shop, or just daily essentials,” Rodriguez says.
Talabat is poised for exponential growth in 2021
Another quickly-expanding play for talabat is investment into its own cloud kitchens, after having created significant partnerships with cloud kitchen operators in the region. Cloud kitchens are delivery-only kitchens, where all processes are custom-designed for quality and speed, equating to more convenience for both vendors and customers.
Having had its cloud kitchen plans postponed due to the pandemic, talabat opened its first kitchen in Abu Dhabi in November. With a mixture of local, regional and international brands – cloud kitchens have quickly become a staple of food delivery.
“Cloud kitchens offer brands a relatively low-cost entry into the F&B industry, Rodriguez says. “When you compare them with a traditional bricks and mortar restaurant, we take care of all the overheads, and there is also no need for wait-staff or their own delivery fleet, so all that the businesses need to worry about is making great food for their customers.
“Our expansion plans for our own cloud kitchens are equally as ambitious as our talabat marts. We see Cloud Kitchens as complementary to traditional bricks and mortar restaurants. Delivery is never going to replace the ambience and experience of dining out, it’s an experience that I think we all really enjoy.”
Being a better partner is also high on talabat’s lists of priorities for 2021. The organisation wants to work closely with their restaurant partners to increase their value as a strategic partner, to make sure that talabat is providing the best possible returns for them.
“Every business has their fair share of challenges. For us, when we champion being a purpose driven business – this is one of our major work-on areas and an area that we are putting a heavy focus on in 2021. We need to make sure that we are truly providing value-based input and solutions for their business. We understand that without our partners, we would not have a business, and are firmly committed to transforming our relationships,” Rodriguez says.
Lastly, talabat is doubling down its efforts in two of its newest markets; hypergrowth in Egypt, where the organisation rebranded from Otlob last year, and Iraq where they are launching this year.
“Both of these markets have massive growth potential, especially with a combined population of almost 140 million with an immense love for food. In the upcoming years talabat will continue to invest significantly in these countries to stimulate growth in a range of delivery-related sectors.
“Many restaurants still use phone orders as the primary means of non-physical ordering, and through helping them to transform their offering and bring them online, we not only help them with their digitisation, we will also be able to increase their orders, visibility, capabilities, and ultimately help them to be more profitable and expand their businesses. We’re working hand in hand with the Egyptian government to support this digital transformation in the country, and want to forge similar relationships in Iraq.”
Talabat wants to work closely with their restaurant partners to increase their value as a strategic partner
2021 – A defining year for Tomaso?
“I believe you can redefine who you are and where you are going, at any point in time’ Rodriguez laughs. “However, looking back at 2020 it has been a year with many forks in the road, a year where I had to take stock, and evaluate life. 2020 was a challenging year for everyone – in one way or another. Some suffered personal or economic losses, families have been unable to reunite for a long time and we’ve all been feeling a bit more lonely. In this gloomy scenario, I can’t help but think how talabat has played and can continue to play its part.
“When you consider our employees, riders and restaurant partners, today, tens of thousands of families rely on talabat to make a living. What keeps me up at night is planning how we can make our products and services better for our customers, and in return, provide a more secure future for these families in uncertain times.
“To achieve this, we need to create an app which continues to be part of the daily fabric in our customers’ lives. In 2021, talabat customers can expect even more selection, convenience, as well as better and faster service to cater to every possible need in the food or groceries realm. We’re also working on some top secret surprises!”
Light at the end of the tunnel
“With the first doses of vaccines being shipped, the world sees a light at the end of the tunnel and Expo 2020 couldn’t come at a better time to bring some much needed optimism. Talabat will proudly be there showcasing a futuristic new kitchen concept and the future of delivery and quick commerce. So what do I want to achieve in 2021?
“Simply put, continuing to lead the best tech company in MENA, and bringing the best people together to make the life of our communities we serve a little better.”