Leading food delivery apps in Germany 2017, by share of orders

Lieferando was the biggest player on the online food delivery market in Germany in 2017. Based on orders analyzed between March and August 2017, Lieferando held a 43 percent share of the market, with the remaining majority held primarily by Lieferheld and Pizza DE.

Takeaway and Delivery Hero’s battle for dominance

Acquisition activity in the food tech market experienced a huge increase as the market established itself, with some startups attempting to buy up competitors and others seeking to be acquired in order to survive. On the German market, Delivery Hero acquired Foodora, Lieferheld and Pizza.de, taking a majority share of the market in 2017. Their main rival competitor was Lieferando, operated by the Dutch online food delivery company Takeaway.com. Delivery Hero eventually sold their three German subsidiaries to Takeaway.com at the end of 2018, resulting in a dominating share of the market.

The future of food delivery in Germany

Although food delivery apps were slower to take off than elsewhere in Europe, the penetration rate of online food delivery in Germany is forecast to grow, as are user numbers. In Europe, UK brands Just Eat and Deliveroo had the biggest market share in the European meal delivery market in 2017, followed by Takeaway and Delivery Hero.