Everything everywhere: The foodpanda paradigm

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Tell us about your journey in Pakistan, from your first job to ending up at foodpanda, what have these years of extensive experience taught you?

Muntaqa Peracha: After graduating in Computer Science from Georgia Tech in 2004, I began my professional journey with Digital Insight (later acquired by Intuit) in Atlanta. Coincidentally, there was a massive tech and telco boom in Pakistan during this time and with my previous experience with Verizon Wireless in the US, I decided it was the right time to come back and work locally serving the telecom and technology industry. Since then, I’ve worked for DWP Technologies, IBM, Inbox Business Technologies, Dun & Bradstreet and TPL Corp. Finally, I ended up at foodpanda as the Commercial Director - which really helped me gear up for my current role as the CEO of foodpanda, Pakistan. All of these experiences have taught me innumerable lessons, both in my professional and personal life. But, the most important learning of all has been that change is the only constant, and learning never really stops. After years of resilience, patience and proactively pursuing my goals, I find myself looking ahead with great promise.

Over the years, we’ve seen foodpanda transform itself from a restaurant delivery app to a one-stop-shop platform in Pakistan, from food to grocery, medicines, cosmetics to expanding its verticals. How did this transformation happen?

MP: Since its inception, foodpanda has remained focused on filling a massive gap by offering consumers a convenience based platform to order food from the comfort of their homes. However, it was covid-19 pandemic that paved the way for foodpanda to turn the global calamity into an unprecedented opportunity for individuals from all walks of life. Diversifying its business, but at the same time offering customers the convenience and choice they so deserved. Among our many initiatives, we launched services like pandamart to deliver essential items and groceries, homechefs initiative was started to support entrepreneurship in difficult times, we launched pandago to help last mile delivery logistics in the country and the list goes on.

For young organisations operating in a competitive sector, what impact does marketing have? Please share

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your experience.

MP: Today’s young business leaders must invest time and effort in understanding their customers really well - if you have the fundamentals right and cater to the right segment the product or service will sell itself. Today’s consumers have become highly sophisticated and wary of polished promotional campaigns. Instead of starting with the product and then trying to sell it, businesses should begin with the audience at the centre of design strategy. Irrespective of the group of people it’s meant to reach, good marketing has to inspire meaningful change.

If you look at the situation globally, there’s a lot of uncertainty due to the global recession, several tech giants have been laying off thousands of employees all around the world. Would you call this the end of the big-tech era? What plans does foodpanda have in case a situation like this emerges?

MP: Layoffs in companies like Meta, Twitter and Shopify etc. were inevitable, and the trend had local reverberations for some portion of Pakistan’s labour force as well. While no business is fully immune to continued macro and political uncertainty, foodpanda’s parent company Delivery Hero (publicly listed company in Germany) has strong underlying financials, is well funded and committed to Pakistan as a growth market. We are the largest market in terms of population for Delivery Hero, and they are deeply invested in growing here; the kind of opportunity and potential that Pakistan’s young population offers is fundamental for foreign investors, going forward. These factors, holistically, have enabled us to operate with an enduring sense of security, even in difficult times and we are hopeful that once the macroeconomic situation improves, we will be well positioned to target numerous growth opportunities the country has to offer.

What role do you think gig work has played in improving people’s livelihoods, especially in recent years?

MP: Gig work has seen a massive boost around the world and in Pakistan in recent years, and for a very good reason. People are increasingly quitting permanent positions to take up gig work, as it transforms their livelihoods because of its flexibility, convenience and transparency. Currently, it feeds almost two percent of Pakistan’s labour force and the model is the backbone of our delivery services, to provide economic opportunity to independent contrac- tors (also known as gig workers). We are proud of the opportunity and flexibility we offer to our riders, whom we refer to as ‘Heroes’, along with the many benefits we continue to offer including health coverage, accidental insurance, access to assets etc.

With our country’s massive unemployment rate of 6.2% and a 64% under-30 population, the gig economy offers the perfect solution.

Where do you see foodpanda in the next 5-10 years?

MP: If you had asked me this question three years ago, I certainly would never have predicted a global pandemic boosting our business to unparalleled success, or that foodpanda would empower homechefs to fulfil their dreams of owning multiple restaurants. I couldn’t have foreseen any of the challenges that we had to transform into opportunities, not just for ourselves, but for hardworking, everyday Pakistanis as well.

In the next five years, I envision foodpanda as the ultimate, one-stop-shop for all things food, grocery and affiliated services. As we invest in more ways to empower individuals and lead the overall restaurant industry’s transformation, we are also significantly increasing the selection of services available to customers. This includes building new technology to help small and medium businesses reach greater heights than ever with foodpanda, and applying a data-driven approach to last mile delivery.

Our goal is not to hit the 100-city mark, but to ensure that there is no compromise on management and efficiency of our operations in the existing 35 plus cities - plus with dedicated focus on customer experience. We are also very focused on sustainability, working on the right product for the right city, and the right product for the right neighbourhood. Our goal is to improve operations from bottom up; to go down into the trenches and develop holistic solutions. n

This content has been published in partnership with foodpanda