The international online food ordering portal Just-Eat.com, which has an annual turnover of €20m a year, has launched into the Irish market.
Just-Eat.com enables you to order takeaway food online from restaurants and takeaway foot outlets.
Just-Eat.com defines ‘takeaways’ as “food which you do not home prepare/cook, such as fish and chips, curries, Chinese dishes and pizzas”.
Internationally, the company took orders for 7 million takeaway meals online during 2008 – representing sales of £7,500,000m sterling worth of takeaway meals during that year.
In Ireland, Just-Eat.ie expects to serve up to 100,000 takeaway meals during 2009, while in Britain alone Just-Eat sold 500,000 meals online last year.
More than 3,500 restaurants are now featured across Denmark and Britain through the group (with 2,200 of them in the UK)
Just-Eat.ie claims that Irish people now eat takeaway food at least twice a week and the company has already signed up over 200 restaurants in Ireland prior to its official launch this week.
While many industries have been affected by the downturn in the economy, research by Just-Eat.ie reveals that the takeaway industry on an international level has bucked the trend and is thriving.
In the UK alone, company spokesperson James Galvin claimed that the fast-food/takeaway and home-delivery market (excluding coffee shops) was worth approximately £10bn sterling in 2008, and is increasing in growth at a rate of around 5pc year-on-year.
A large variety of cuisines, including Italian, Thai, Burgers, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Bistro are available on Just-Eat.ie already, and offer a choice from a cross-section of restaurants that deliver locally. Consumers simply choose their location, their favourite cuisine and order their meal and drink options online and pay by credit card.
Galvin said that an estimated €780m was spent in fast-food outlets in Ireland last year (making Irish people the biggest spenders on takeaway food in Europe).
Initially, Just-Eat.ie will offer a choice of takeaway food from restaurants in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. However, it expects to sign up another 200 restaurants in the next three months to bring the total number up to 400.
And it’s not just the traditional takeaway restaurants that will feature on the site.
“We believe restaurants that would not have normally considered offering food ‘to go’ will do so now during these tough times. We offer an ideal marketing solution to a wide range of restaurants, and offer them another route for revenue generation,” Galvin said.
By John Kennedy
Pictured: James Galvin, country manager Ireland, and David Butress, CEO, Just-eat.co.uk
