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Salon
Salon
Lifestyle
Ashlie D. Stevens

RARE PHOTOS: The food delivery bubble is bursting | Rare Historical Photos

On-demand food delivery saw truly explosive growth during the pandemic. With restaurants closed to in-person dining and takeout’s ability to turn “a lethally depressing Saturday night into a lethally boring Saturday night with pad thai,” as “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver recently put it, apps like GrubHub and DoorDash experienced a surge of new users and global revenue for the industry skyrocketed from $90 billion in 2018 to $294 billion in 2021. 

However, new reports show they still aren’t profitable. 

According to a 2024 analysis from the Financial Times, leading online food delivery groups in Europe and the U.S. “have racked up more than $20 [billion] in combined operating losses since they went public,” reportedly leaving investors queasy at the idea of funding more loss. Not only that, but consumer reports indicate customer dissatisfaction with the apps is on the rise, while labor groups continue to decry the ways in which they say the food delivery industry takes advantage of gig economy workers. 

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