Just Eat Price Hike Criticised By Rival Foodhub

It has been revealed that Just Eat has hiked its service charge from 50p to as much as £1.99*.

Many customers won’t notice the change as it only appears right at the point of payment, despite a ‘total’ without it displayed earlier.

The move has today been criticised by rival takeaway food delivery app, Foodhub.

Ardian Mula, CEO of Foodhub, said: “We never charge a service fee or a convenience fee to the consumer, unlike our rivals.

“Takeaway apps have been some of the most successful businesses over lockdown due to the lack of viable alternatives for food and drink in the hospitality industry.

“However now we’re easing out of lockdown, takeaway aggregators need to do their part to support not only the consumer but, also, the rest of the hospitality industry, and not put profit before progress as the economy strives to recover.

“Over the last year of the pandemic, it’s been increasingly apparent that consumers are more aligned to brands that put ethics before profits, and at Foodhub, we make it our mission to both deliver great takeaway food at fair prices for the consumer but also work with and support independent businesses across the UK and other territories where we operate around globe.

“We aim to deliver the best takeaway food, be transparent with our charges for consumers, but also, crucially, to support our partners to thrive, by arming them with the technology, and customer platform to do so. We feel it’s vital that our partners remain in control of their own businesses, and have built our business model to allow just that.

“We’re the only major takeaway provider not to charge a commission on orders, instead charging our partners a manageable monthly fee, allowing greater control of their finances – this also means we can usually deliver exactly the same takeaway food from exactly the same restaurants as our rivals at an average 15% saving on price.

“Furthermore, instead of employing drivers on a loose, self-employed model – we use delivery drivers that are employed directly by our takeaway partners, further supporting local jobs in whichever city we’re operating in. We also support them in accumulating information on their hard-earned customer base, supporting as and when needed.

“At Foodhub, we have over 20,000 partners in the UK, and are committed to supporting each client’s individual growth. As well as our pledge to a 0% commission model, we believe a diverse offering of independent food outlets is vital to our economy, and that the dark kitchen model has no place within large aggregator apps.”