Deliveroo beefs up distribution to bite into Just Eat and Hungry House's lunch

Brands including Carluccio, Princi, Ping Pong, Rossopomodoro, Busaba Eathai and Brindisa are already on board.

“Just Eat and Hungry House have educated people about food delivery but their options are downmarket,” says Shu. “There’s also no transparency over delivery times because those companies don’t actually deliver the food.”

When restaurants join the Deliveroo platform, they are plugged into the start-up’s delivery fleet and registered on the website.

“We provide a Google Nexus tablet with a printer and they just have to accept the orders. We deliver,” says Shu. “It’s a way for these restuarants to create extra throughput in their kitchens without adding any costs.”

The customer pays restaurant prices for the food plus an additional £2.50 charge for Deliveroo’s service.

Deliveroo’s average delivery time stands at eight minutes. “We are a hyper local business so the food is always hot,” says Shu.

By 2015, Shu predicts that Deliveroo’s run rate will hit “eight figures”.

“We’re a young business but the numbers are already very large.”

Shu had the idea for Deliveroo when he was working for Morgan Stanley in New York. “Over there, you can order food from practically any restaurant,” he explains. “When I was transferred to Canary Wharf, I could never get decent food delivered when I was working late. I was forced to live on Burger King.”

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