Epicery, a 9-year-old French food delivery startup, will not ring in 2025.
A message posted to the company’s website informs visitors that Tuesday (Dec. 31) was its last day of operations, having made its final deliveries in France earlier this month.
“The food delivery platform sector has gone through particularly difficult times in recent years, and we have not been spared,” the company said.
“Despite our determination and many efforts to overcome these challenges and defend living commerce at all costs, the analysis of our results shows that our business model is no longer viable. Despite all our efforts to improve our performance, we are now forced to close our doors, due to the lack of prospects for recovery.”
The company also cited lack of growth in its turnover, worsened by a tough economic climate and increasingly fierce competition.
A report on the closure by TechCrunch notes that Epicery, which focused on premium groceries and local deliveries, soared during the COVID pandemic, when home food delivery ballooned in popularity. The company began to struggle when inflation led consumers to scale back their spending. Even after pulling back from some cities, the company had negative EBITDA of -4.69 million euros last year on sales of 2.57 million euros.
The news comes weeks after food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway sold Grubhub to delivery startup Wonder at a substantial loss. Just Eat acquired Grubhub for $7.3 billion in 2021, and agreed to unload the company for $650 million after a two-year search for a buyer.
“The sale of Grubhub to Wonder will increase the cash generation capabilities of Just Eat Takeaway.com and will accelerate our growth,” Just Eat founder and CEO Jitse Groen said in a news release. “This deal delivers the right home for Grubhub and its employees.”
In other delivery news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about DoorDash’s partnership with David’s Bridal, and what it says about the changing face of eCommerce.
“This ongoing cultural shift in how consumers approach online shopping is transforming the way shoppers approach goods that were traditionally considered high-touch or required a physical experience,” that report said.
“Consumers now expect online availability and delivery for nearly every product category, with the ability to have a wedding dress ‘DoorDashed’ only signifying how deeply digital commerce has integrated into even the most personal and high-stakes consumer decisions.”
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