Uber Says Goodbye to its Instant Food-Deliver Service

When Uber launched UberEats, its second ever stand-alone app meant for foodies, we were all pretty over the moon. The app which offered two options: the standard food-delivery with an extended menu and the other, which Uber called Instant Delivery – a new service that provided curbside delivery of meals from restaurants in less than 10 minutes. 

Sound too good to be true? Well, Uber realised it too. Less than 5 weeks after its unveiling, Uber has announced that they’re pulling the plug on Instant Delivery in NYC. 

“In order to bring you the most exciting selection, the highest quality food, and the fastest delivery time, we’ve decided to narrow our focus,” Uber said in an email to users, explaining its decision to move away from that service.

Right from the beginning, the logistics behind Instant Delivery has been complicated. 

In order to deliver a meal to a customer within 10 minutes of them placing the order, all the food was pre-made by the partnering restaurant and stored in a Midtown Manhattan building, to keep its bike couriers from having to go from the restaurant to the customer’s address to drop it off. And the economics behind the service were equally vague: Uber said it didn’t buy the food from the restaurants—it let the restaurants figure out how much food to provide on any given day.

Do not be despaired foodies, this is only in NYC. According to New York Daily News, a spokesperson for the company said it doesn’t have plans to phase out Instant Delivery anywhere else. So, foodies outside NYC, you have nothing to worry about.