Ro's Recz

Food delivery is an industry that has seen massive growth during the pandemic, and it is almost assuredly going to be a major part of people’s lives in the future. However, it is also a controversial industry, and one that benefits certain players more than others.

In the podcast “Land of the Giants Delivery Wars”, the research team discusses the food delivery landscape and who is winning and losing. While it may seem that restaurants are the big winners in food delivery, this is not always the case; food delivery companies like Grubhub and UberEats charge a significant amount for their services, which cuts into restaurants already tight margins. While this may make it seem like the food delivery services are the ones profiting, there is so much competition in the space that almost all food delivery companies are not yet profitable.

In one of the episodes, the research team makes the case that customers are the only true winners from the food delivery sector. Customers are basically getting food delivery service for free, with all of the costs (such as marketing, drivers, technology, etc.) being passed on to other parties in the service chain. In almost all cases, customers would be supporting restaurants more if they did takeout rather than delivery.

“Land of the Giants Delivery Wars” also talks about the rise of ghost kitchens, which are restaurants that are only featured on delivery services. Ghost kitchens have become much more prominent in recent years, and in many cases customers may not even know that they are ordering food from these ghost kitchens. All in all, “Land of the Giants Delivery Wars” covers a wide variety of topics about the food delivery industry, and it is a great introduction to the major players and topics in the industry.

Land of the Giants Delivery Wars Recommendation Rating: 3.5

This post has now been updated to reflect a new ratings system that I have implemented, which is scored as follows:

1: Something worth checking out if you have time

2: Something that is a hit for some people, but not a must for everyone

3: Something worth prioritizing if interested

4: Something worth making time to check out

5: An absolute home run, worth going out of your way for