Deliveroo Hong Kong opens fourth kitchen this year as demand for takeaway orders surges

Deliveroo, one of the leading food delivery platforms in Hong Kong, has opened its fourth kitchen this year to cater to takeaway orders amid strong demand and competition during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new venture, part of the company’s delivery-only “Editions” kitchens, opened earlier this month in the residential Tseung Kwan O area, spanning more than 5,266 sq ft.

Delivery-only kitchens allow restaurants to operate off-site “ghost kitchens” that handle only takeaway orders to cater to a larger customer base across the city. The pandemic has seen a rise in delivery orders as people have been dining out less due to social-distancing restrictions.

According to Deliveroo general manager Andrew Hui Chee-yin, Tseung Kwan O is a strategic choice as it is expected to house more than 470,000 people by 2024, based on the government’s town-planning targets. The area also covers dense neighbourhoods such as Lohas Park and Hang Hau, and includes the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Despite fellow competitor Uber Eats’ recent announcement it would exit the Hong Kong market by the end of the year, Hui said he believed the local food delivery scene still had room for improvement.

“It’s a pity that we lost an industry player, [but] the competitive market [has] always pushed us to launch new initiatives,” Hui said. “What we can do is to continue improving our platform for restaurants and riders, and make our services better for consumers as well.”

Deliveroo, which started its first takeaway-only kitchen in 2017 and now has eight of them, has invested millions of Hong Kong dollars to expand its reach in the food delivery scene. This year alone, it opened a total of four kitchens.