Hungry? You can just 'app' for food in UAE

Dubai resident Martin Ganaganag and his colleagues at a health clinic on Al Wasl Road order food online during lunch breaks at least three to four times a week. They find it more convenient, time-saving and economical than eating out at any of the restaurants nearby.
"We request for food deliveries more frequently now because the weather is getting hotter and we find it exhausting to go out and eat. When we order, we always look for promotions and we pool our money to save," Ganaganag said.
The demand for food deliveries in the UAE is huge and the industry is growing. According to a report titled, Ready to serve: 2017 UAE Food and Beverage (F&B) report, by market research firm KPMG, 60 per cent of UAE consumers use an app to order food. This is way above figures in US, where only 18 per cent use delivery apps or websites to place orders, as per the 2017 Morgan Stanley report.
Consumers in the UAE use these apps to order a meal, find a new restaurant to try out an eatery, read a restaurant review, and look for discounts.
As more customers prefer to order food instead of eating out, restaurants are also seeing opportunities created by the proliferation of technology. In the UAE, 87 per cent of surveyed food operators said they are listed on delivery apps. These food apps, according to KPMG, "have transformed the F&B landscape by creating a level playing field."
Before, offering delivery options to consumers meant a sizeable capital investment. Now, apps have taken away this need, allowing small - and mid-sized operators to offer delivery without incurring major costs upfront. There are a number of delivery-only concepts that have been introduced like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Talabat and more.
These delivery-only concepts have made the so-called 'black box delivery' obsolete. "Now, with an app, you'll know exactly where your order is every step of the way. Watch in real time as your food is prepared, picked up, and delivered to you," an Uber Eats spokesperson told Khaleej Times.
With the onset of summer and the rise in temperature it brings, food deliveries will inevitably increase, according to industry experts.
"But if we look at absolute numbers, there are actually two opposing factors at work during summer: One is, many residents are leaving the country (so this means a decrease in the number of potential customers) and two, there is a rise in terms of repeat orders and the frequency of orders increase during summer. So, there is a net positive effect in terms of number of orders placed online," Anis Harb, general manager of Deliveroo GCC, said.
Harb added that the London-based online food delivery company founded in 2013 by Americans Will Shu and Greg Orlowski, which opened in Dubai in November 2015, has been growing exponentially week by week.
He said that the concept of food delivery does not make people become lazy to prepare their own food, as convenience and economics are the two main contributing factors in the market growth.
According to Uber Eats: "Food delivery brings additional benefits such as no minimum basket size and the ability to customise orders, while offering a wide selection of restaurants in Dubai across all categories and providing (the customers) the ability to order what they want. We deliver meals quickly, under 30 minutes, as we are doing in a number of cities globally."
"Convenience also means being able to plan ahead. For the planners out there, they can schedule an order ahead of time and order anytime up to an hour before the desired delivery window - and as far as a week out," the Uber Eats spokesperson added.
Harb, for his part, said: "We also defy the notion that people eat less healthy food. With the frequency of people ordering food, there is also an explosion of healthy concepts. And this boom puts pressure on restaurants to adapt to everyday type of selection."
As for the challenges they face, Harb said the summer heat definitely puts a lot of stress to their more than 1,000 riders across the city. 
"Customer security is crucial to Deliveroo. We constantly update our anti-fraud measures and monitor for irregular activity. We partner with leading companies who secure the data that we hold. On the rare occasions when fraud does occur, we work with customers to secure their account, reimburse them for fraudulent transactions and - where appropriate - work with the relevant authorities to address the matter," Harb underlined.
Meanwhile, another food delivery option is presented by Dinner Time (dinnertime.ae). Their concept is, "We deliver, you cook, just enjoy."
How does it work? Dinner Time delivers a box of ingredients and recipes for people to prepare each week.
According to Dinner Time, "it's home cooking made easy without the hassle of thinking for ingredients. No waste, no need for grocery shopping or menu planning and people will get fresh ingredients at their doorstep."
 angel@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE