Hong Kong’s food delivery service leader, Deliveroo, today announces that they now have 200 virtual brands on the platform, having added 100 VBs in the past few months. Virtual brands expand consumers’ choice of delicious meals and support restauranteurs to bolster their revenue without increasing fixed costs and have become one of the important ways to mitigate risks under this current challenging environment for local Hong Kong restaurants.
Virtual brands enable existing restaurants to increase revenue and customers by offering new or complementary cuisines, under new branding, exclusively on the Deliveroo app, but without the cost of establishing a new brick-and-mortar location. Appearing as a separate restaurant on Deliveroo, the virtual brand might be a BBQ joint launching a Mexican menu, a Greek restaurant offering healthy protein bowls, or a favourite pizza joint delivering gourmet wraps.
With Hong Kong restaurants now facing headwinds, including reduced brick-and-mortar visitations and a recent tide of closures, virtual brands support local restauranteurs to stabilise or increase sales while minimising expenditures. Whether preparing the new virtual offerings in their current kitchen, or from a Deliveroo Editions super kitchen hub, restaurants can get more value from their existing staff, ingredients and culinary expertise, without increasing rent or other operating costs.
Deliveroo uses its data to identify hotspots for growth and missing cuisine types, then helps partner restaurants to create the perfect menu. In addition, Deliveroo provides strong marketing support and access to its global network for more cost-effective ingredient sourcing, new recipes, and the chance to license foreign brands. Deliveroo supports restaurants every step of the way to help them improve their offer for customers.
Brian Lo, General Manager of Deliveroo Hong Kong, said: “It has been a challenging time for restaurants in Hong Kong as we see closure rate increases from 1.5% to ~5% since January. In markets around the world, restaurants on Deliveroo that launch virtual brands with the company have seen on average a 70% increase in revenues as a result of those brands. In Hong Kong this is higher at 85%, thanks to the city’s enthusiasm towards ordering in and eagerness to try new things. Here at Deliveroo we’re thrilled to have added so many new virtual brands since launch last year, and proud to be a partner to restaurants to help them ride out the recent headwinds. We support our restaurant partners to thrive, and that’s exactly what virtual brands deliver.”