Deliveroo begins targeting wet-led pubs
The online ordering giant said the trial with just over 20 pubs this year had been successful and that it would be looking to expand the service in 2018, according to BigHospitality's sister site MCA.
The company said it began to notice the rising popularity of orders being delivered to pubs and decided to turn the trend into a formal collaboration with pubs and bars across the UK.
A Deliveroo spokesman told MCA: “We’ve set up some great partnerships with several pubs and bars across the UK, offering the establishments access to Deliveroo branded items to help prompt visitors to order some delicious food to enjoy with their pint.”
One of the first venues to take up the service was live music venue The Shed, which recently opened its doors to Deliveroo drivers as it doesn’t have a kitchen of its own.
Elisabeth Barker-Carley, owner of The Shed, said: “When you go out to a restaurant you can be very restricted to what you can choose - for example I’m not a fan of Indian food but my other half loves it. With Deliveroo, a group of people can order whatever they fancy, and order it in to The Shed where we’ll provide the plates and cutlery too.”
Last year, Just Eat trialled a similar arrangement with Punch.
It comes after Deliveroo announced it had raised a further $98m (£74m) last week as it closed its latest funding round, valuing the company at over $2bn (£1.5bn).
Deliveroo, which launched in London in 2013, is planning to use the funding to continue expanding its Deliveroo Editions delivery-only kitchens platform while investing in its technology team.
The company has launched in Cannes, France, today (21 November), meaning the platform is now active in 200 cities worldwide