Update at 3 pm: Ola has denied reports that it is suspending its food delivery business, and issued the following statement to MediaNama: As part of our ongoing business repurposing initiatives, we are focused on building a portfolio of own food brands and curated food offerings through our fast expanding network of kitchens. Many of these offerings are already available in all major cities through the Ola and Foodpanda apps. We continue to invest in expanding our facilities and kitchens, as well as our portfolio of food offerings for customers. We remain committed to our mission of building a superior food experience for millions of our customers Today at 11:30 am: Ola has suspended Foodpanda's delivery business and has laid off 40 employees and 1,500 delivery executives, the company is now switching to in-house brands and cloud kitchens only, as per multiple reports (see here and here). Foodpanda was reportedly unable to continue competing with heavyweights Zomato and Naspers-backed Swiggy, both of which have been burning cash by offering discounts and expanding services to more cities. It is worth noting that in December, Foodpanda claimed to have 60,000 restaurants listed and servicing in 100 cities. Between September and December 2018, it had expanded to roughly 60 locations. It reported losses of Rs 228 crore for FY17-18, up by 80% from losses of Rs 45 crore the previous year. What now? The current idea at Foodpanda is to switch focus on cloud kitchen business including its own brands, instead of being a…
