Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

Uber Raises Stakes As It Aggressively Expands Toronto Food Delivery Service

The Canadian Press, 09 Dec, 2015 12:08 PM
    TORONTO — Uber has chosen the streets of Toronto for its latest experiment in food delivery.
     
    The mobile app company, which has already shaken up the taxi industry, is now quadrupling the operating hours of its UberEats delivery service in the city and rolling out a much wider menu selection from local businesses.
     
    Uber launched a stand-alone UberEats app exclusively in Toronto on Wednesday, first on Apple's iOS devices. Smartphones running Google's Android operating system will get the app on Tuesday.
     
    Users will need to download the new program to access Uber's expanded food service, which offers full menus from more than 100 restaurants in the Toronto area.
     
    With the changes, customers will still be able to tap into Uber's existing short list of menu items — a service it will now call "Instant Delivery" — which delivers a short list of food items in under 10 minutes.
     
    Food off the longer menu will take a bit more time to arrive, as it will be prepared on the spot. Generally food will show up in less than 45 minutes, Cheung said.
     
    Toronto is the only Canadian city where Uber delivers food, and Bowie Cheung, general manager of UberEats in the city, said it's also one of the most popular of the 12 locations in the world where it delivers food.
     
    "It's building a great reputation as a technological hot spot for innovation," he said.
     
     
    "We launched UberEats about seven months ago in Toronto and the reception has been amazing. Customers rave about the service, they love it and it has grown quickly, so it felt like the natural place to launch this app."
     
    Among the new changes in Toronto, hours of delivery will now run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, rather than its previous operating hours of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
     
    Uber's expansion marks the latest change for the rapidly evolving food delivery industry where global online company Just Eat acquired Canadian rival Orderit.ca over the summer.
     
    Around the world, others have also been getting into the food delivery business, including e-commerce giant Amazon, which rolled out a similar service in 20 U.S. cities last month.
     
    UberEats launched in the United States in August 2014 and has operated with a rotating menu of about four meals from a variety of local restaurants.
     
    Uber has also been expanding into other areas of delivery, in some U.S. cities where UberRush ships packages and other goods.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    School Briefly On Lockdown After 'Brazen' Gunfire In Surrey Neighbourhood

    School Briefly On Lockdown After 'Brazen' Gunfire In Surrey Neighbourhood
    The Mounties responded to calls of shots fired at a home (near the intersection of 128 St. and 67 Ave) yesterday afternoon

    School Briefly On Lockdown After 'Brazen' Gunfire In Surrey Neighbourhood

    RCMP To Lead New Plan To Intervene In High-Risk Cases In Surrey, B.C.

    RCMP To Lead New Plan To Intervene In High-Risk Cases In Surrey, B.C.
    The meeting would allow members to review cases where a referring agency believes there is a high probability of immediate harm for an individual or family.

    RCMP To Lead New Plan To Intervene In High-Risk Cases In Surrey, B.C.

    Mountie Who Punched Inmate Eight Times In B.C. Jail Gets Conditional Discharge

    Mountie Who Punched Inmate Eight Times In B.C. Jail Gets Conditional Discharge
    NANAIMO, B.C. — A Vancouver Island Mountie who pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm has received a conditional discharge and one year probation.

    Mountie Who Punched Inmate Eight Times In B.C. Jail Gets Conditional Discharge

    B.C.'s Southern Coast Braces For More Wet Weather As Second Storm Makes Landfall

    B.C.'s Southern Coast Braces For More Wet Weather As Second Storm Makes Landfall
    VANCOUVER — Residents on British Columbia's South Coast will have little opportunity to dry off after a recent spate of wet weather.

    B.C.'s Southern Coast Braces For More Wet Weather As Second Storm Makes Landfall

    Crown's Non-Disclosure Of Vital Documents In Ivan Henry Trial 'Breathtaking': Lawyer

    Crown's Non-Disclosure Of Vital Documents In Ivan Henry Trial 'Breathtaking': Lawyer
    VANCOUVER — The lawyer of a man wrongfully imprisoned for 27 years says her client's 1983 sexual-assault trial is Canada's most egregious example of the Crown withholding evidence.

    Crown's Non-Disclosure Of Vital Documents In Ivan Henry Trial 'Breathtaking': Lawyer

    Parliament's Opening Debate Sees Sparks Fly Between Liberals, Conservatives

    OTTAWA — The promised new era of civility in Parliament is sounding a lot like a rehash of the federal election campaign.

    Parliament's Opening Debate Sees Sparks Fly Between Liberals, Conservatives