The Delivery And Takeaway Food Market size was estimated at USD 220 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 450 billion by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.50% during the forecast period (2024-2030).

Delivery And Takeaway Food Market

Market Summary

The delivery and takeaway food market represents a transformative segment within the global food and beverages industry, fundamentally altering how consumers access restaurant-quality meals. This market is characterized by a dynamic ecosystem of restaurants, delivery platforms, and logistics providers working in concert to meet rising consumer demand for convenience. The proliferation of smartphones and high-speed internet has been a foundational element, enabling the seamless operation of third-party applications that connect customers with a vast array of dining options. This sector is not merely an extension of traditional food service but has evolved into a sophisticated industry in its own right, influencing restaurant business models, urban logistics, and consumer spending habits. The competitive landscape is intense, with platforms continuously innovating through subscription models, diversified cuisine offerings, and enhanced delivery tracking to capture and retain market share. The market's evolution is a direct response to modern lifestyle trends, including busier schedules and the desire for a greater variety of culinary experiences from the comfort of one's home.

Key Highlights

Several pivotal trends underscore the current state of the delivery and takeaway food market. The integration of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning for personalized recommendations and optimized delivery routes stands as a major highlight, significantly improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The emergence and rapid scaling of cloud kitchens or ghost kitchens represent a revolutionary shift, allowing restaurants and entrepreneurs to operate delivery-only establishments with lower overhead costs, thereby expanding their geographic reach without the need for physical dine-in spaces. Sustainability has also become a critical focus, with growing pressure on platforms and restaurants to adopt eco-friendly packaging solutions and optimize delivery routes to reduce their carbon footprint. Furthermore, the expansion of services beyond food into grocery and convenience item delivery illustrates the sector's ambition to become a comprehensive on-demand logistics solution. Partnerships between major delivery platforms and large quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains have become a dominant strategy for ensuring a reliable and diverse supply of popular menu items for consumers.

Drivers, Opportunities & Restraints

The growth of this market is propelled by a confluence of powerful drivers. Increasing urbanization and the subsequent time-poor lifestyles of consumers create a inherent demand for convenient meal solutions. The widespread penetration of smartphones and the availability of user-friendly applications make ordering food an effortless process. The growing acceptance of digital payments and cashless transactions further removes friction from the purchasing journey. Significant opportunities lie in the untapped potential of suburban and rural markets, where service availability is still expanding. The integration of additional services like grocery delivery and alcohol delivery presents a substantial avenue for revenue diversification and increased customer lifetime value. However, the market faces notable restraints. High commission fees charged by third-party platforms can erode restaurant profit margins, leading to tension in the value chain. Logistical challenges, including traffic congestion in urban centers and the management of a reliable fleet of delivery personnel, impact efficiency and cost. Intense competition among major players like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Just Eat Takeaway.com often leads to price wars and heavy spending on marketing and customer acquisition, which can pressure profitability.

Concentration Insights

The global delivery and takeaway food market exhibits a high degree of concentration, particularly in North America and Europe, where a few dominant players control a significant portion of the market. This oligopolistic structure is characterized by the presence of giants such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Just Eat Takeaway.com, and Delivery Hero. These companies have achieved their scale through aggressive mergers and acquisitions, technological investment, and extensive network effects. Their dominance is reinforced by strong brand recognition, large exclusive partnerships with national restaurant chains, and vast datasets that allow for superior customer targeting and service optimization. In contrast, markets in Asia, such as China and India, are often led by strong regional champions like Meituan and Swiggy, which have deeply entrenched positions and a nuanced understanding of local consumer preferences. This concentration creates high barriers to entry for new competitors, who must contend with the immense capital requirements and established ecosystems of the incumbents.

Type Insights

The market can be effectively segmented by the type of platform and service model employed. The primary distinction lies between platform-to-consumer delivery, represented by third-party apps like Uber Eats, and restaurant-to-consumer delivery, where establishments use their own in-house drivers. The third-party model dominates due to its aggregated choice and convenience for the consumer, though it comes with higher costs for the restaurant. A significant and growing segment is the delivery-only cloud kitchen model. These facilities are designed exclusively for preparation of food for delivery, enabling brands to operate multiple virtual concepts from a single location, thereby optimizing real estate and operational costs. Another key type is the click-and-collect or takeaway model, where customers order online and pick up their food themselves. This option is often favored by cost-conscious consumers looking to avoid delivery fees and by restaurants seeking to maintain a higher margin on orders. Each model caters to different needs within the broader ecosystem of convenience.

Application Insights

The application of delivery and takeaway services spans a diverse range of food establishments, each with unique dynamics. Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) and fast-food chains were early and prolific adopters, finding a natural synergy with the speed and convenience offered by delivery platforms. Their standardized menus and quick preparation times are ideally suited for the delivery format. Casual and fine-dining restaurants have also increasingly embraced these services, though they face greater challenges in maintaining food quality and presentation during transit. This has led to innovations in specialized packaging designed to preserve temperature and integrity. Beyond traditional restaurants, a new class of virtual restaurants has emerged, operating solely out of cloud kitchens and existing only on delivery apps. Furthermore, the application has expanded to include grocery stores, bakeries, and convenience stores, blurring the lines between food delivery and broader quick-commerce, offering consumers a one-stop-shop for their immediate needs.

Regional Insights

Adoption and maturity of the delivery and takeaway food market vary significantly across global regions. North America is a highly developed and competitive market, led by DoorDash and Uber Eats, with a strong consumer base accustomed to digital ordering and a preference for diverse cuisine options. Europe presents a fragmented landscape, with the UK and Germany being mature markets dominated by players like Just Eat Takeaway.com and Delivery Hero, while Southern and Eastern European markets show strong growth potential. The Asia-Pacific region is the largest and most dynamic market globally, driven by massive populations, high mobile penetration, and a vibrant street food culture. China's market is dominated by Meituan and Ele.me, while India is led by Zomato and Swiggy. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are emerging regions experiencing rapid growth, fueled by increasing internet access and urbanization, with regional players and global giants competing for market share.

Company Insights

The competitive arena is defined by a mix of global technology giants and specialized regional leaders. DoorDash maintains a leading position in the United States, leveraging its extensive merchant network and DashPass subscription service. Uber Eats benefits from its integration with the broader Uber ecosystem, providing a seamless experience for a large existing user base. Just Eat Takeaway.com, formed from a merger, holds a strong presence across the UK and Europe. Delivery Hero operates a vast international portfolio of brands across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In Asia, Meituan in China and Zomato in India are formidable regional champions. Beyond these aggregators, strategic moves by technology companies like Amazon with its Amazon Restaurants venture, though later discontinued, and the continued investment by giants like Prosus and Naspers, indicate the high strategic value placed on this sector. Success for these companies hinges on logistics efficiency, brand strength, and exclusive restaurant partnerships.

Recent Developments

The delivery and takeaway food market is in a constant state of innovation and strategic shifts. A prominent recent trend is the industry's push towards profitability, with leading platforms focusing on optimizing operations and reducing customer acquisition costs after years of expansion-focused spending. This has included experiments with new advertising models for restaurants on their platforms and the refinement of subscription services to boost customer loyalty. The expansion of quick-commerce (q-commerce), delivering groceries and essentials in under 30 minutes, is a significant adjacent development, with companies like Gorillas and Getir attracting substantial investment. Technological advancements continue, with trials of autonomous vehicle and drone delivery underway by companies such as Wing (owned by Alphabet) and various startups. Furthermore, there is a growing emphasis on providing restaurants with better data analytics and software tools to help them manage their online presence and delivery operations more effectively, moving beyond a simple transactional relationship.

Report Segmentation

This comprehensive market report provides a detailed analysis segmented across multiple dimensions to offer a granular understanding of the industry landscape. The analysis is structured by platform type, distinguishing between the aggregator model, logistics-focused platforms, and direct restaurant-to-consumer channels. It further segments the market by food type, covering segments such as fast food, casual dining, breakfast and brunch, desserts, and beverages. Geographic segmentation provides in-depth coverage of key regional markets including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa, with country-level analysis for major economies within these regions. The report also includes segmentation by business model, analyzing the performance and prospects of traditional restaurants utilizing delivery services versus the emerging cloud kitchen segment. This multi-faceted approach allows stakeholders to identify specific growth pockets, understand regional nuances, and assess the competitive environment with a high degree of precision.

FAQs

What is the difference between food delivery and takeaway? Food delivery involves a service, often a third-party platform or a restaurant's own driver, bringing the ordered food directly to the customer's specified location. Takeaway, also known as pickup, requires the customer to place an order, typically online or via phone, and then travel to the restaurant to collect their food themselves, thus avoiding any delivery fee.

Which food delivery service has the most restaurants?The platform with the most restaurants can vary by city and country. On a global scale, aggregators like Just Eat Takeaway.com and DoorDash boast portfolios numbering in the hundreds of thousands of restaurant partners. However, Uber Eats and Delivery Hero also have exceptionally large and diverse networks. The leader in a specific locality depends on which platform has achieved the deepest market penetration and secured exclusive partnerships with popular local chains.

How do food delivery companies make money?Food delivery companies primarily generate revenue by charging commissions on each order placed through their platform. This commission, which can be a significant percentage of the order total, is paid by the restaurant. Additional revenue streams include delivery fees paid by the consumer, service fees, surge pricing during high-demand periods, and advertising fees or promoted listing charges paid by restaurants to gain greater visibility within the application.

What are the challenges faced by the online food delivery industry?The industry contends with several persistent challenges. Maintaining profitability is difficult due to high operational costs associated with marketing, technology, and managing a delivery fleet. Restaurants often criticize the high commission rates charged by third-party platforms. Operational challenges include ensuring consistent food quality and temperature during transit, managing logistics efficiently in congested urban areas, and high driver turnover. Furthermore, there is increasing regulatory scrutiny and calls for improved labor conditions for delivery personnel.

What are the latest trends in food delivery?Current major trends include the rapid growth of ghost kitchens or cloud kitchens, which reduce overhead costs for delivery-only brands. Sustainability is a key focus, driving innovation in eco-friendly packaging. There is a strong movement towards vertical integration, with platforms offering restaurants more software and point-of-sale solutions. The expansion into quick-commerce for delivering groceries and convenience items is also a dominant trend, as is the experimentation with autonomous delivery methods like drones and robots.

Citius Research has developed a research report titled “Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Report - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Segment Forecasts 2024 - 2030” delivering key insights regarding business intelligence and providing concrete business strategies to clients in the form of a detailed syndicated report. The report details out the factors such as business environment, industry trend, growth opportunities, competition, pricing, global and regional market analysis, and other market related factors.

Details included in the report for the years 2024 through 2030

• Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Potential
• Segment-wise breakup
• Compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next 6 years
• Key customers and their preferences
• Market share of major players and their competitive strength
• Existing competition in the market
• Price trend analysis
• Key trend analysis
• Market entry strategies
• Market opportunity insights

The report focuses on the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges in the market based on various factors geographically. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The Delivery And Takeaway Food Market report is segmented on the basis of various market segments and their analysis, both in terms of value and volume, for each region for the period under consideration.

Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Segmentation

Regions Covered

• North America
• Latin America
• Europe
• MENA
• Asia Pacific
• Sub-Saharan Africa and
• Australasia

Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Analysis

The report covers below mentioned analysis, but is not limited to:

• Overview of Delivery And Takeaway Food Market
• Research Methodology
• Executive Summary
• Market Dynamics of Delivery And Takeaway Food Market
  • Driving Factors
  • Restraints
  • Opportunities
• Global Market Status and Forecast by Segment A
• Global Market Status and Forecast by Segment B
• Global Market Status and Forecast by Segment C
• Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions
• Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis of Delivery And Takeaway Food Market
• Cost and Gross Margin Analysis of Delivery And Takeaway Food Market
• Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Report - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Segment Forecasts 2024 - 2030
  • Competition Landscape
  • Market Share of Major Players
• Key Recommendations

The “Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Report - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Segment Forecasts 2024 - 2030” report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report delivers the market driven results supported by a mix of primary and secondary research. The report provides the results triangulated through authentic sources and upon conducting thorough primary interviews with the industry experts. The report includes the results on the areas where the client can focus and create point of parity and develop a competitive edge, based on real-time data results.

Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Key Stakeholders

Below are the key stakeholders for the Delivery And Takeaway Food Market:

• Manufacturers
• Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers
• Material/Component Manufacturers
• Industry Associations
• Downstream vendors

Delivery And Takeaway Food Market Report Scope

COVID-19 Impact Analysis

Like most other markets, the outbreak of COVID-19 had an unfavorable impact on the Delivery And Takeaway Food Market worldwide. This report discusses in detail the disruptions experienced by the market, the impact on flow of raw materials, manufacturing operations, production trends, consumer demand and the projected future of this market post pandemic.

The report has helped our clients:

• To describe and forecast the Delivery And Takeaway Food Market size, on the basis of various segmentations and geography, in terms of value and volume
• To measure the changing needs of customers/industries
• To provide detailed information regarding the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges influencing the growth of the market
• To gain competitive intelligence and uncover new opportunities
• To analyse opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying high-growth segments in Delivery And Takeaway Food Market
• To strategically profile key players and provide details of the current competitive landscape
• To analyse strategic approaches adopted by players in the market, such as product launches and developments, acquisitions, collaborations, contracts, expansions, and partnerships

Report Customization

Citius Research provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.

Frequently Asked Questions