African entrepreneur Michael Olaleye, who wrote a piece on the website Startups, saw cracks in the biggest food delivery platform in the world, Uber Eats. So, he created his own.
Problems with Uber Eats
Uber Eats has problems? The delivery app that partnered with the NFL, with so many campaigns, and has profits that go beyond boundaries, was not perfect, according to Michael Olaleye.
“Fast-forward to today, and the food landscape is dominated by third-party platforms like Uber Eats and Deliveroo. These platforms promised visibility and convenience, but for us, the reality was a little different,” he wrote.
While he recognizes the reality that these apps reach to more customers, he wants something that would help the industry growth further and take African cuisine to a wider audience.
He further stated that while Uber Eats brought traffic, there are “cracks, and these “cracks prompted a difficult but necessary question: why are we letting someone else own the customer experience?”
“The truth is, while Uber Eats and similar services give you reach, they take more than they give back. Their commission fees are high – often 30 percent or more – and that’s just the start. You lose control over your pricing, your branding, and most importantly, your relationship with your customers. For a business like ours, built on loyalty and trust, that’s not sustainable,” he further noted.
He also mentioned how customers get their orders late at times, or they are unable to find the full menu on the app. Or, they tried ordering but there are technical glitches.
“And while the customer blamed us, we had no control over the logistics or presentation. Worse still, we had no way to fix it or even reach out to make it right,” he stated.
There’s Tasty African Food today
So, he started Tasty African Food to serve authentic, home-style African meals to local communities, while fixing the problems with Uber Eats.
He wanted to change the landscape of how few customer insights are shared. Prior to Tasty African Food, the industry generally had no idea who the repeat customers are, what dishes they loved, or how often they ordered.
“In a digital age, that’s a huge loss. We knew we were building something bigger than a takeaway service. We were building a brand, a community, a movement around West African food. But it’s hard to build a community when you don’t even know your audience,” he said.
Tasty African Food is a family-run food business, rather than a tech startup, be clear on that. It wasn’t meant to replicate Uber Eats, but wants something better. It wants to offer “an experience where customers could explore their own story, browse full menus, and order directly from them with confidence.”
The app is also partnered with a tech team to bring the vision to life. Though there are negative feedback, customers feel a stronger connection to the brand, the entrepreneur claims.
“… We’re able to reward loyalty, run targeted offers, and get real-time insights into what’s working… It wasn’t perfect on day one, but it was ours. And that made all the difference,” he emphasizes. “It wasn’t perfect on day one, but it was ours. And that made all the difference."