Uber to shut down food delivery service in Italy
The Uber Eats food delivery service is leaving Italy after seven years, the company announced on Thursday.
American mobility giant Uber said it was closing its food delivery business Uber Eats in Italy as of July 15th, and would also be leaving Israel, where it hasn’t reached a big enough market share.
The company said in a press release its Italian food delivery service had failed to “grow in line with expectations to create a sustainable business over the long term”.
Company CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said Uber will invest only in markets where it can be the largest or second-largest player, according to media reports.
Uber Eats is currently available in over 60 Italian cities, but it has faced competition from similar food delivery apps such as Just Eat and Glovo.
The company, which relies on self-employed contractors for its delivery service, told Reuters around 50 Uber employees and thousands of non-employee couriers and restaurants would be affected in Italy.
“Our main focus now is to do what we can for our employees, in compliance with applicable laws,” it said.
Despite the end of its food delivery operations in Italy, the company said it was “committed” to continuing its other operations in the country and would “focus even more on our mobility services, where we are recording significant growth”.
READ ALSO: Uber expands into Italy's taxi market with new partnership
Uber’s regular ride-hailing app is currently not allowed to operate in Italy due to concerns about unfair competition for Italian taxi drivers.
However, after striking a deal with taxi dispatcher IT Taxi last year, Uber Black (the ‘luxury’ version of the popular cab service) is now available in ten Italian cities, where it has served over one million customers in the past 12 months, the company said.
“After the launch of the Taxi service in Sardinia announced last week, we plan to further increase our presence in the country and to launch in four new cities by the end of the year,” it said.
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American mobility giant Uber said it was closing its food delivery business Uber Eats in Italy as of July 15th, and would also be leaving Israel, where it hasn’t reached a big enough market share.
The company said in a press release its Italian food delivery service had failed to “grow in line with expectations to create a sustainable business over the long term”.
Company CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said Uber will invest only in markets where it can be the largest or second-largest player, according to media reports.
Uber Eats is currently available in over 60 Italian cities, but it has faced competition from similar food delivery apps such as Just Eat and Glovo.
The company, which relies on self-employed contractors for its delivery service, told Reuters around 50 Uber employees and thousands of non-employee couriers and restaurants would be affected in Italy.
“Our main focus now is to do what we can for our employees, in compliance with applicable laws,” it said.
Despite the end of its food delivery operations in Italy, the company said it was “committed” to continuing its other operations in the country and would “focus even more on our mobility services, where we are recording significant growth”.
READ ALSO: Uber expands into Italy's taxi market with new partnership
Uber’s regular ride-hailing app is currently not allowed to operate in Italy due to concerns about unfair competition for Italian taxi drivers.
However, after striking a deal with taxi dispatcher IT Taxi last year, Uber Black (the ‘luxury’ version of the popular cab service) is now available in ten Italian cities, where it has served over one million customers in the past 12 months, the company said.
“After the launch of the Taxi service in Sardinia announced last week, we plan to further increase our presence in the country and to launch in four new cities by the end of the year,” it said.
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