We all enjoy eating, but when we are too exhausted to prepare a meal at home, we often opt to grab a bite somewhere else instead. Customers love food delivery apps as they are simple to use and quick to place an order, and the deals blow them away. Time is money, and these apps help save it for consumers.
Do you want to know more about the top food delivery applications in South Africa?
The Online Food Delivery market in South Africa is likely to reach a revenue of ZAR US$ 2.10 billion by the end of 2023.
This market segment is anticipated to showcase a yearly growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 10.8 percent, resulting in an expected market volume of around ZAR US$ 3.17 billion by 2027.
Despite these lucrative statistics, limited food delivery enterprises thrive in South Africa. Uber and Takealot rule national food delivery. Fast-food chains like McDonald’s use these food delivery services because of their popularity.
However, more food delivery apps are needed to serve the huge market. South Africans have long awaited these services. The Top Food Delivery Apps in South Africa are covered in this blog, so let us explore them. We will also discover how White-label Food Delivery App Solution helps in enabling on-demand food delivery businesses.
How Food Delivery Apps in South Africa are Effectively Ruling the Food Marketplace
According to research reports, the South African meal delivery app market will be a more worthy marketplace in the coming time. The marketplace is estimated to upsurge at a CAGR of around seven percent between 2023 and 2028.
ALSO READ: Online Food Delivery Statistics: Overview and Industry Analysis
People all around Africa use popular applications to ship themselves drinks, garments, meals, groceries, and much more. The new consumers just need to get the app on their phone, and once they do it, they will be good to go.
Online ordering and delivery systems have made people’s lives considerably more accessible globally. Mobile apps are affordable and versatile, making them convenient. Users can get free shipping, features, and functionality with the same app.
On the other hand, both startup companies and enterprise firms are looking to develop food delivery apps or going for subscription technology enablement models to enable their businesses across South African regions.
Top Online Food Delivery Apps You Must Try in South Africa
Looking at the top 10 South African food delivery companies may help you understand how they succeeded and you can replicate the same in your ongoing or startup business.
1. Mr D – Groceries & Takeaway
Mr D Food is South Africa’s most popular meal delivery app. Being a Takealot Group subsidiary has always provided Mr D Food with an edge over other South African food delivery applications. With a 30% market share, Mr D Food is the leading food delivery app in South Africa.
The delivery service has over five million downloads and one million regular clients. Demand for Mr. D. Foods is rising.
The company expects to increase revenue in 2025 owing to its partnership with Pick N Pay. Mr D Food App users may order alcohol and groceries from Pick n Pay.
Download the Mr D app to enjoy convenient grocery and food delivery from over 11000 restaurants and stores, and 300+ Pick n Pay grocery stores. New Mr D Food customers get R50 off R100+ orders. Enter the coupon code “DEAL50” at checkout to save 50% on your first app purchase.
Mr. D Food offers happy hour bargains and other offers to its loyal consumers. They provide customizable food deals based on individual interests.
2. UberEats
While UberEats is a widely used service worldwide, its popularity in Cape Town is unparalleled. Local favourites like Nando’s sit alongside international fast-food giants like KFC and McDonald’s on the site.
The “Pickup” option is a standout function of the UberEats Food Delivery App. Hence allowing food lovers to order ahead and skip the queue at partnering restaurants for online meal ordering.
When consumers are pressed for time or during peak lunch hours, this functionality can come in handy.
This SaaS-based food delivery app solution is convenient because it links directly to the Uber app. For customers familiar with the Uber platform, switching between ride-sharing and food delivery is as simple as opening a new tab in the app.
3. Debonairs Pizza
Debonairs Pizza began its journey in 1991 when the first store opened in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. marking the start of the journey that Debonairs Pizza has taken since that time. Established by Craig MacKenzie & Andrew Harvey, the concept was creating an American-style delivered pizza to households across South Africa. From there a single store expanded to become the biggest pizza delivery chain in South Africa.
Debonairs Pizza is South Africa’s largest pizza delivery franchise, blending age-old pizza-making experience with state-of-the-art delivery systems. With a wide net of outlets spanning the country, the brand has made a name for itself by serving always fresh hot pizzas every day. Such quality and innovation have earned them their place as one of the South African food delivery chains.
The Debonairs Pizza app, launched in 2012, marked a significant milestone in the company’s digital transformation. Available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store, the app has achieved remarkable success:
- Downloads: Over 1,000,000+ downloads on the Google Play Store
- Rating: Maintains a strong 4.5/5 star rating
- Active Users: More than 500,000 monthly active users
- User Satisfaction: 88% positive review rate
4. WeChow
WeChow, launched in March 2021, has rapidly transformed the South African food delivery landscape by bringing a unique blend of cultural diversity to digital food ordering. Founded by Marcus Ndlovu and Sarah van der Merwe, this innovative platform bridges the gap between local cuisine and modern delivery convenience.
WeChow is a Halal food connector that connects you with different Halaal restaurants & Halaal home industries to choose from, delivered to you. WeChow offers its users, a variety of cuisines and flavors to choose from, allowing them to enjoy good appetizing quality food in a hassle-free manner.
WeChow features straightforward, localized, convenient, and easy-to-use designs. If you already know what you want to order, input your search/menu item and WeChow will reveal all options and choices that are offered in your area. WeChow is location-based, so your craving is just a swipe away!
Even the same service, which is WeChow source in fact, still helps and delivery local restaurants stay afloat, providing South African consumers with food variety around the South Africa food delivery market. With the help of trained delivery partners, the platform manages to keep the delivery fees competitive while ensuring the quality of service.
Also Read: Best Food Delivery Apps in USA
5. UCook
Regarding food delivery in South Africa, UCook is among the best. Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban, as well as several smaller communities, can all make use of the meal delivery service.
UCook fills a need in South African cuisine by selling raw ingredients that can be processed at home. The On-Demand Food Delivery Service accommodates customers with dietary restrictions by allowing them to order meals based on the servings they need.
Pre-cooked meal orders can be placed on the platform for those who prefer them. Gluten-free, dairy-free, high-fibre, vegetarian, high-protein, and meat-based recipes are available at food delivery apps South Africa.
Frozen craft pizza, kid-friendly dinners, and even baby food are all available at UCook. There is also an extensive wine list, with many merchants giving deals on cases of three or more bottles.
UCook is a subscription service in which clients select the meals they want to consume every week. The client is free to choose the number of persons to be served and the frequency of service.
6. Glovo
Sacha Michaud and Oscar Pierre founded Glovo in Barcelona in 2015. One of the most popular online courier services, its app may be used for pickup, delivery, and purchases. This all-purpose living app delivers meals and other things on demand.
Glovo’s most popular function is food delivery. With the greatest food delivery app in South Africa, Glovo raised $528 million in Series F funding.
Customers in your location can order from any supported city, making this service convenient. Customers can order groceries, gifts, and food. After receiving an order, the nearest delivery service will acquire the product from the nearest store and deliver it.
ALSO READ: Top 10 Online Food Delivery Apps in India
7. KasiD: Food Delivery
The KasiD app, founded by Freddy Mahhumane in 2020, has revolutionized food delivery services in South Africa’s townships. This app provides users with the convenience of accessing a wide variety of meals from local township restaurants, ensuring reliable and timely deliveries. By empowering local businesses and offering a user-friendly platform, KasiD has garnered More than 10K downloads available on the Play Store itself. Powered by it, the app has been thriving, helping the community, and improving the food delivery experience.
Kasid Food App creates an easy and connected delivery experience to bring you the best of food delivery and grocery delivery and medicine and parcels as well at your doorsteps. Our services are aimed at making everyday life simpler and more enjoyable by being the go-to service provider you need.
8. Heyfood
HeyFood, founded by Akinropo Taiwo and Demilade Odetara in 2021, is transforming food delivery services and is a changing game-changer in South Africa´s food delivery. The app provides users with the convenience of accessing a wide variety of meals from local and national restaurants, ensuring quick and reliable deliveries. HeyFood is a popular app among users because of its features such as real-time tracking of orders, secured payment options, variety of cuisines, etc. Its promotions and coupons offer great savings, making it an economical choice. With over 50,000+ downloads on Google Play Store, Heyfood is still shaping the future of food delivery.
Additionally, HeyFood is dedicated to supporting local businesses partnering with various restaurants, from small local restaurants to popular national chains. It not only benefits the local economy but also allows users to have options to eat. With numerous positive reviews attributed to it due to its easy-to-use interface and user-centric elements, the app has developed into a go-to food delivery platform throughout South Africa.
In addition, HeyFood has implemented advanced technology to enhance the user experience, including AI-driven recommendations based on users’ preferences and order history. This personalized approach ensures that customers always have access to their favorite meals and new culinary delights.
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9. Nando’s
In South Africa, however, the Nando’s App made a unique niche for itself in the food delivery ecosystem, turning South African dining into a local affair by delivering its famed PERi-PERi flame-grilled chicken. South Africans have evidently taken to this digital ordering solution, as it has over 1,000,000 downloads and a phenomenal 4.5-star rating on the Play Store. The way people are ordering has been revolutionized by the app, which also has 70% less wait time compared to phone orders which is a huge hit with customers that are craving for their Nando’s fix.
Financial benefits for Nando’s App users are impressive, with exclusive deals saving customers around R200 monthly. The Nando’s Rewards loyalty program has become a digital success story in South Africa, offering members average rewards of R75 per month.
The app prioritizes security, maintaining a 99.9% secure transaction rate and holding ISO 27001 certification for top-level information security management.
10. The Flying Pan
The Flying Pan was built to deliver online food to food lovers right at their doorsteps. The digital platform offers healthy and ready-to-eat meals in South African regions. All the meals are freshly cooked on the same day of the delivery. The food delivery app offers consumers a balanced and nutritious food item across South Africa.
Customers can easily order their food dishes online for dinner and relish it with their loved ones. Diverse meal options are obtainable on the digital platform; these choices comprise low-carb, classic health meals, and vegetarian food items.
This food delivery app solution is, without a doubt, the top South African food delivery app. Customers may easily order their go-to dishes from their preferred eateries using the site.
Future Perspective of Food Delivery Business Model in South Africa
When it comes to international food delivery, South Africa holds a considerable stake. The food delivery business in South Africa is growing and maturing at a quick speed.
With a high projected annual growth rate, the food delivery industry and its different inner food segments are poised to exceed the projected mark by the year 2027.
South Africa’s statistics and projections are large-sized, with already successful and other upcoming enterprise food delivery and related organizations.
Regarding food delivery services, some of the biggest companies in the country are Uber and Takealot. Their dominance has led major fast-food franchises like McDonald’s to contract them to deliver their food.
Online Food Delivery Business Plan for Startups: Step-by-Step Guide
The Key Takeaways
Some may try to imitate these above ten food delivery business models, while others may build their own. There are not yet enough innovative businesses to match all the variety of food demands in the South African marketplace, so now is a great opening to become and directly involved in this type of online food ordering and delivery business venture.
As a food technology business leader, we with our highly professional team can assist you start your own food delivery business with our app-based solutions and other technology resources in South Africa or even at any other part of the world.
So, if you are discovering a SaaS-based Food Delivery App Solution in 1 Week, we at DeOnDe provide the best readymade food delivery solutions to offer a result-oriented application and business solution particularly created to enable your online food business.
Let us get connected and discuss more about enabling your food delivery business with our latest technology and a proven app-based business model to facilitate your seamless global operations.
FAQs
1. How many food delivery drivers are there in South Africa?
ANS: There are no official numbers in South Africa on this expanding workforce but the Durban-based research and training organization estimates there were at least 50,000+ active food delivery drivers in South Africa.
2. What is the most popular takeaway food in South Africa?
ANS: Chicken reigns supreme in South Africa Beef-focused establishments attract 6.7 million customers monthly.
3. How Can I Pay for These Applications That Bring Food?
ANS: Food delivery apps in South Africa offer multiple payment options like UPI, cash on delivery, and credit/debit cards.
4. Can I Build an App Like Uber Eats with a Monthly Subscription Model?
ANS: Yes, you can build an app similar to Uber Eats. Deonde offers an Uber Eats clone app with a monthly subscription model, allowing you to start your business within a week.
5. How does online food delivery work?
ANS: The process consists of a customer choosing the restaurant of their choice, scanning the menu items, choosing an item, and finally choosing for pickup or delivery.
