Food and technology: it may sound like a contradiction – on one hand, instinct, and tradition, on the other hand, development, and progress. On the contrary, an increasing number of our daily behaviors depend on the matching of these two universes, a match made in heaven also known as ‘FoodTech’.
Here’s a fun fact: the very first online ordering and food delivery service in the world came from Pizza Hut in 1994. Since then, we’ve come a long way since the days of phone orders. And thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many restaurants have turned to a new delivery business model: virtual brands. In Ghana, the concept of virtual food brands has been in existence since before COVID as well; we just didn't give it a name - delivery-only restaurants/eateries that primarily only exist on BOLT FOOD and other 3rd party platforms - have always been a convenient option for the hungry man who doesn't want to go out to get food.
Since COVID-19, however, the market has begun to take shape.Post-COVID Online Food delivery is changing habits in unexpected ways as more Ghanaians have shifted to buying food and groceries online to save money and time.
To give an idea of the market for virtual food brands - the number of customers in the Meal Delivery market is expected to reach 2.5bn people by 2027 and the user penetration in the Meal Delivery market is at approximately 25.2% this year.
E-commerce in Africa is still in its infancy by global standards standing at less than 2% vs 20% in China or 12% in the USA. Despite this, e-commerce remains promising with rising GDP contribution indicating a consumption-driven region and Job creation. Innovations in the food industry, one of the world’s oldest and largest industries, are creating attractive opportunities for women and youth on the African continent. More than 5 million jobs can be created in 2025 in Africa by the Online Marketplace.
However, when brands are purely virtual and have no brick-and-mortar presence, the first challenge is that you don’t have a place for customers to “feel and touch you.” Brick-and-mortars also have the benefit of physically being “driven by” to stay top of mind (i.e., when customers think, “I haven’t visited that place in a while.”) or to even be introduced (i.e., “Hey! That’s a new restaurant.”)
In recent times however there are virtual brands that are beginning to bridge this gap utilizing tech innovations.
Enter Domedo - a virtual fast food brand - that is experimenting and innovating the way delivery and pick up only brands make ,manage and deliver food in Ghana.
Unlike other brands in the niche sector ; they don't rely on 3rd party platforms to interface with customers, instead they have developed their own platform.
Domedo has partnered with IT consulting firm SSESSA to develop ZOBO.
ZOBO is primarily a virtual waiter - log on/ place your order / enter your location / pay and your food is at your doorstep in no time. Pretty basic right ? but there's more.
Whereas in a physical restaurant one may struggle to get updates from a waiter on the status of their orders [except for the usual - your food will be ready in 5 mins - every 5 minutes!] ; your virtual waiter on
ZOBO gives you real time updates at every major point of your ‘food prep to delivery process’ [ even before you ask!]
You can track in real time on the platform or sit back, relax and receive up to the minute updates via text - from when it goes into the kitchen to when it's ready- bagged - picked up and all the way to when it arrives at your doorstep. After you receive your food ; you get to give DOMEDO an anonymous review of the food and their service via an automated feedback form.
A seamless customer experience isn't all of it; the real kicker is in the back-end experience -
ZOBO allows DOMEDO to use data sciences to effectively personalize services to their customers.
Data is king and ZOBO enables DOMEDO to gather vast amounts of data on customer preferences, ordering habits, and demographics; and comes equipped with Advanced data analytics tools that help the brand make informed decisions about menu optimization, pricing strategies, and targeted marketing campaigns. Leveraging these customer insights has allowed DOMEDO to offer personalized experiences, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Keep in mind this is data that is not readily available to a vast majority of brick & mortar outlets; except the big franchise brands.
Brick & mortar or virtual - Efficiency is paramount in the food industry and kitchen management systems are a necessity. ZOBO has an integrated system that helps DOMEDO streamline order processing, optimize cooking workflows, and reduce preparation time. This helps eliminate inefficiencies, minimize errors, and maintain consistent food quality, leading to an enhanced overall customer experience.
DOMEDO turned a year old recently and according to their IG post; they have recorded 6136 orders and recruited 1180 new customers over the period and counting. How are they able to track this data? You guessed it right - ZOBO.
DOMEDO’s parent company MACC FARMS is in the business of virtual brands for the long haul and has recruited a team of business development and food science experts to churn more virtual brands backed by data for the Ghanaian and West African markets.
Last year they piloted a 2nd brand, ‘WING IT’, and quickly shelved it because the data generated through ZOBO indicated that the market was not ready for a full rollout. Fast forward 8 months later; the brand team is finalizing tweaks to the concept and recipes guided by the data analytics to launch a new brand in 2024.
In the words of MACC FARMS’ operations manager, ‘Lady Ama Ibrahim - “Our brands are
built on data, not guesswork - Our brands are ruthlessly tested, updated, and marketed to maximize their performance. We know food culture and we have the data receipts to prove it.”
The pure-play virtual brand space can be difficult, given the tricky unit economics of delivery, and traditional consumers, for their part, have mixed feelings about virtual brands.
The virtual service space is still new. The number one growth factor is not to stay stagnant and constantly be fixing, evolving, and researching new technologies to stay; brands like DOMEDO are leading the way in this regard and that's worth the mention and attention.
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