Bolt, the recently rebranded ride-hailing platform formerly known as Taxify, is planning to launch its food-delivery service soon. The service will rival incumbents like Mr Delivery, OrderIn and Uber Eats — services that many South Africans likely know very well given the load shedding of the past few weeks.
Food delivery is a natural next step for on-demand transport services, as they already have the infrastructure to do deliveries thanks to their experience ferrying passengers. According to a statement from Bolt, the service runs in more cities than any other competitor in South Africa. Which is likely why the company decided to make South Africa one of the first three launch countries, along with Estonia and Finland.
“[W]e want to bring this approach to food delivery. Combined with our technology, efficient operations and thousands of drivers in South Africa, we plan to build the best food delivery service for the people who already use our services daily,” says Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder of Bolt.
The company recently underwent a global rebrand and is also working to expand ride-hailing services to motorbikes and electric scooters in South Africa soon.
We don’t know when the company plans to announce the service officially, but it’s good to know they’re being worked on. More competition in the sector should push down delivery costs, or encourage more players to offer in-store pricing (yep, we’re scowling at you, Uber Eats). If you own a restaurant, and are interested in signing up to the service, there is a registration link online — which suggests its actively working on rolling out the service ASAP.
