KARACHI: Food and grocery delivery service foodpanda Pakistan plans to double its operations in the country within the next three years, aiming to expand from six million to as many as 12 million households and generate $2 billion in economic activity this fiscal year, CEO Muntaqa Peracha has said.
Foodpanda is a subsidiary of Berlin-based Delivery Hero, which operates in more than 70 countries. The company generated $1.2 billion in economic activity in FY24 and now connects millions of users in 35 Pakistani cities with restaurants, home chefs, and its own pandamart grocery stores. It engages thousands of freelance riders and handles up to 20% of the total food business for its restaurant partners.
“Now that we’re at that point and the economy looks relatively stable we’re hoping to further accelerate that to get to a point of doubling our business over the next, you know, 24 to 36 months,” Peracha told the media.
Peracha said foodpanda would grow its pandamart grocery network from seven to 12 cities over the next year, expand its “shops” vertical to onboard more local retailers, and open six to eight new kitchens. The platform also plans to deepen coverage in existing cities before scaling to Pakistan’s top 50 urban centers.
“We’re looking to expand our categories within the cities that we operate in right now,” he said. “That means more pandamarts opening up, more shops coming online, more restaurants being contracted, more home chefs working with us.”
While the outlook is optimistic, foodpanda faces operational hurdles, including political rallies, road blockades, heavy rains, and prolonged Internet shutdowns.
“If it’s an elongated nationwide blackout… the whole day’s business can be impacted by 30, 40, 50 percent,” Peracha said, noting the impact on rider earnings.