Berlin's Delivery Battle: Is Peace Just a Myth?
Revamped Article:
Hop on your bike and peddle down Berlin's bustling streets — it wasn't long ago when these routes were a vivid spectacle of cyclists, each carrying a different hue, hustling to bring you your takeout orders. But the colorful courier bubble these cyclists formed had a dramatic burst in 2019, leaving a trail of disrupted competition in its wake.
The competition for Berlin's online delivery market sparked in the late noughties, with German platforms like Lieferservice.de, pizza.de, and Lieferando setting the stage. These early platforms connected homebodies with a variety of restaurants, allowing the restaurants to handle the deliveries. This all changed in 2013 with the arrival of new wave players such as London-based Deliveroo, now operating in 13 countries, and homegrown Foodora, boasting a presence in 15 countries. These newer platforms stepped up the game by providing their own delivery riders, helping eateries that didn't have their own drivers and spawning a burgeoning economy. Hundreds of expats, students, and creatives in Berlin eagerly joined the movement, drawn by the appeal of starting with just a smartphone and a bike, no German language necessary. The streets were brimming with a kaleidoscope of colors: turquoise (Deliveroo), pink (Foodora), and soon after, orange (Lieferando), as the throng of cyclists carved through the city to reach their next restaurant or apartment.
A Market Shakeup
Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based owner of Lieferheld, sought to take the lead, acquiring rivals pizza.de in 2014 and Berlin-based Foodora in 2015. But the roles reversed in April this year when Takeaway.com, Lieferando's parent company, purchased Delivery Hero's German operations for a whopping €930 million. Facing pressure over its controversial self-employment practices, Deliveroo, the other major player, chose to exit the German market on August 12, leaving an estimated 400-800 Berlin couriers stuck without a ride. While they were offered a "goodwill payment" equivalent to 10 days' pay, some have since taken Deliveroo to court, demanding the same benefits as other German contract workers. All of this left Lieferando as the victor, overseeing a fleet of around 250 riders. Unlike at Deliveroo, these couriers are hired as employees on mini-job or part-time contracts and are equipped with e-bikes, e-scooters, and weatherproof gear provided by the company at their hub at Am Karlsbad, near Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park. According to Lieferando spokesperson Andreas Engel, these couriers serve around 100 of the 1,500+ restaurants in the company's Berlin network, while the rest continue to use their own delivery staff. Neighborhoods like Friedrichshain and Mitte top the list of most-delivered-to areas, with orders mostly consisting of pizza, burgers, and sushi, though vegetarian dishes and poke bowls are rapidly gaining popularity. Now firmly at the helm, Lieferando only acknowledges one true rival. In Engel's words: "Our biggest competition is the phone — many Germans still order directly from restaurants."
But that isn't entirely accurate, as ex-Deliveroo riders have rallied to take matters into their own hands.
The Homebrew Option
Kolyma2 is a local delivery service that positions itself as the "post-Deliveroo experience." The collective's name references the CIA infiltrator in the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, not the Soviet gulags, and aims to offer a personal touch as an antithesis to the often impersonal, app-based corporate market. "We didn't want to leave the entire market to Lieferando. We wanted to provide an alternative," says co-founder Stefano Lombard. Without access to sophisticated software, Kolyma2's operating system is fundamentally different from that of the big players. "You reach out to us directly via text, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Threema, we call the restaurant, place the order, and deliver it," Lombard explains. "You know exactly who you're dealing with. It's a lot more personal but also a lot more work for us," he grins. Kolyma2 swiftly established a network of 16 restaurants in Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, and Schöneberg, and before long was making around 50 deliveries per weekend. While it's highly unlikely they'll challenge Lieferando for market share, Kolyma2 rider "Johnny" suggests that the motivation transcends mere financial gain. "You have to earn enough money, of course, but what matters is that we work together as a group, with a flat hierarchy," he says. While the idea of running a hierarchy-free collective might inspire, the reality has presented some challenges. With all of its members holding multiple jobs, Kolyma2 took a brief break in November to regroup but is expected to resume operations soon. Despite an early stumble, Lombard remains optimistic about the demand for smaller players like himself: "I think there are a lot of people in Berlin who'd prefer to support a collective over a massive corporate company, don't you?"
Sources:1. Statista - Online Food Delivery Market in Germany: Development 2007-20212. Blast Magazine - Food Delivery Apps: A Closer Look at the Berlin Market3. Euractiv - Delivery Hero fined €21 million for abuse of market dominance4. Bundesgerichtshof - Urteil vom 30.05.2019 - I ZR 169/14 - Freie Wahlen Berlin5. Food Delivery Market in Germany - Current Status and Future Outlook
- In the evolving Berlin business landscape, a new player named Kolyma2 emerged, offering a grassroots alternative to the dominant food delivery service, Lieferando, by promoting a personal, app-free, and hierarchy-free lifestyle.
- As the digital food-and-drink industry continues to reshape the city's economy, technology remains a crucial factor, with finance playing a critical role in determining the market's future direction and the lifestyle choices of its participants.
