Deliveroo Debuts Hong Kong Brick-and-Mortar Store

Online food delivery startup Deliveroo has opened a physical restaurant in Hong Kong, according to a CNBC report.

The restaurant serves online and in-store customers, and if it’s successful, the company has plans to grow the concept globally.

The Deliveroo Food Market will operate as both a kitchen for delivering orders and a customer-facing location where patrons can pick from 15 different dining concepts.

The food market concept extends the company’s Editions program, a concept that has actual kitchens hosting 100 participating restaurants in shared spaces all over the world. Those kitchens are in what the company considers strategic neighborhoods, and the restaurants operate without the costs tied to running an actual restaurant.

“We find there is an opportunity to bring our offline-to-online model to our customers,” Brian Lo, general manager of Deliveroo Hong Kong, told CNBC. “Hong Kong is one of the most expensive rental prices, so the pressure on restaurant operators is very high and this model works very well for them.”

Lo went on to say that partners in the Wan Chai District in Hong Kong generate healthy margins – between 10 and 15 percent, which is high for the industry. The company hopes the food market concept will let its restaurant groups increase delivery sections with better costs, but also spur innovation.

“This is a location [where] we can have a closer touch with the residents nearby and understand their dining behavior. It allows us to test our new brands,” said Wincy Cheung, assistant marketing and communications director for the Chinese restaurant chain Crystal Jade.

Cheung said the idea will allow the restaurant an amount of creative freedom unburdened by traditional storefront costs.

“If we opened a physical store, we’d have to consider a lot of things. This delivery platform allows us to reach more customers at a location that we’re not already in,” Cheung said.