Just Eat Partners with Asda for UK Grocery Delivery 

Just Eat Takeaway.com on Thursday (Dec. 16) has partnered on a trial basis with U.K. grocery store chain Asda to deliver groceries to Brits starting in January, according to a Friday (Dec. 17) press release.

Just Eat customers will be able to order from five Asda stores during the trial period, the joint statement says, with both companies saying they expect more stores to be added to the trial as it goes on. Consumers will have about 1,000 items from which they can choose, including fresh groceries. 

Just Eat has been delivering hot pizza from Asda since 2019, but this week’s trial marks its boldest move yet into delivering groceries across the U.K. 

Just Eat, which owns Grubhub, had said in the past that there wasn’t enough money in grocery delivery, but Chief Executive Officer Jitse Groen said in August that he had “evolved” his stance. 

Uber Technologies Inc. and Deliveroo Plc, which is building out a fast-delivery grocery service and an offering that would allow customers to order from supermarkets, are among Just Eat’s competition in the U.K. grocery delivery sector. 

Asda, which was owned by Walmart, is now operated by a consortium of Britain’s Issa brothers and TDR Capital.  

Related: Shareholder Cat Rock Wants Just Eat Takeaway.com to Ditch Grubhub 

In November, Just Eat shareholder Cat Rock Capital said the Dutch delivery firm should either sell or spin off Grubhub to boost its valuation and shift the company’s focus back to its European customers, while also having the power to “unlock the significant value of Grubhub” by consolidating with a U.S. company. 

Cat Rock has a 6.5% stake (approximately 14 million shares) in Grubhub, whose stockholders approved Just Eat’s acquisition on June 10. 

Just Eat has thus far ignored Cat Rock’s repeated calls to sell Grubhub, saying it hasn’t owned the company for long and remains “excited by Grubhub’s potential.” Cat Rock put together a presentation on the food delivery industry to further make its case that divesting Grubhub is in Just Eat’s best financial interest.