Deliveroo GM in the GCC Anis Harb responds to criticism of aggregators operating in Dubai, saying its focus is to support restaurants
The general manager of Deliveroo in the GCC has defended the food delivery platform amid increasing criticism of aggregators operating in Dubai.
A number of companies have come in for strong criticism, particularly during the recent Covid-19-enforced lockdown period, for charging restaurants high commissions to appear on this platforms.
It prompted Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar to say: “Aggregators are actually robbing the F&B operators with these incredible commissions that they are asking for.”
He subsequently announced the launch of Noon Food, as part of the Noon.com platform.
However, Anis Harb told Arabian Business that the company is doing everything in its power to support partner restaurants.
“Our view is that we’re going to continue to support restaurants by increasing their sale, by accessing new customers to delivery. That’s our focus,” he said.
Part of that support included a new weekly payment service to boost cash for its restaurant partners in the UAE.
As a result, restaurants were able to receive money made from deliveries within a week to improve cash flow.
Harb, who earlier this week announced plans to expand operations into Al Ain, said: “We’re helping restaurants go online for the first time, including all fine-dining businesses of DIFC. We’ve helped restaurants launch multiple virtual brands and we’ve reduced their costs through our procurement team.
“It’s difficult to respond to the kind of feedback. We just keep our heads down. We know we’re doing great work for restaurants. We’re going to help them increase their sales, help them reduce their costs in procurement and improving the operations, and we’re helping our customers get a better experience.”
Deliveroo operates in over 500 towns and cities across 12 markets, including Australia, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the UAE, Kuwait and the United Kingdom.
