China’s online catering sector is expected to see more growth this year, forecasts predict that 300 million meals will be ordered online this year, up from 256 million meals that were ordered online in 2016. The growth comes after the launch of UberEATS in India which was hoping to ride a similar wave of success in that country.
Jiang Junxian, head of the China Cuisine Association, says that by 2020 the country’s take-out business will account for more than 10 percent of the catering industry’s total retail. The market size of the take-out business in China exceeded $23.49 billion in 2016, up 33 percent year on year.
Aside from regular meals, late-night snacks and afternoon tea are two increasingly popular catering options. Last year, these two types of deliveries increased three-fold on Ele.me, one of the country’s largest online catering platforms; surpassing the growth for orders of lunch and dinner.
The take-out business is also helping traditional catering business; Jinbaiwan, a chain famous for Peking duck and Chinese cuisine in Beijing has seen online orders account for 40 percent of the business’s total turnover.
In order for the online catering services to improve, the head of the China Cuisine Association is calling for more smart technology and better delivery to be implemented in order for the market to carry on succeeding.
