Talabat
Kuwaiti food and grocery delivery company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Talabat (Arabic: طلبات, romanized: Ṭalabāt) is an online food ordering company founded in Kuwait in 2004. As of April 2021,[update] It operates across several Middle Eastern countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq. Since 2016, Talabat has been a subsidiary of Delivery Hero, a German multinational online food delivery company.
 | |
Type of site | E-commerce |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, Arabic |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Area served | |
| Owner | Delivery Hero SE |
| Founder | Abdulaziz Al Loughani |
| CEO | Tomaso Rodriguez |
| Industry | Internet |
| Services | Online food ordering, Food delivery |
| Employees | >16,000 |
| URL | www |
History
In 2001, four Kuwaiti students in Cairo developed the idea for a company modeled on the Egyptian food ordering service Otlob. In 2004, they founded Talabat General Trading and Contracting Company in Kuwait.[1][2] The name "Talabat" derives from the Arabic language and it means "orders" or "requests".[3]
In 2008 and 2009, Talabat received the “Best E-Business” award in Kuwait.[4][5] with recognition presented by the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.[6]
In 2009, the business was operating out of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with an average of 1,250 daily transactions. Talabat then underwent changes such as the re-branding from 6alabat.com to Talabat.com, a shift from a hybrid form of Arabic and English spelling to a pure English spelling.[7]
In 2011, the company introduced a new website layout and changes to the user interface.
In 2012, Talabat began operating in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.[8]
In 2013, it began operating in Qatar.[9]
In 2015, Talabat was acquired by the global German e-commerce group Rocket Internet for US$170 million. [10] It became part of Rocket Internet's business unit Global Online Takeaway Group.[11]
In 2016, Rocket Internet's food delivery business, including Talabat, was taken over by online food marketplace Delivery Hero.[12] In line with this acquisition, Abdulhamid Alomar took over as the CEO of the company.[13]
In 2017, Talabat launched operations in Jordan.[14]
In 2019, former Grab executive Tomaso Rodriguez was appointed as CEO, after the stepping down of Abdulhamid Alomar. [15]
Lawsuits were filed against the company after they were found violating fair competition rules in Kuwait. A settlement plea made by Talabat was also turned down. [16]
In January 2020, the food delivery company Carriage,[17] also owned by Delivery Hero, was absorbed by Talabat. [18][19]
In August 2020, it had been confirmed that the Egyptian food delivery service Otlob, which was in operation since 1999, had become a Delivery Hero subsidiary in 2016. It is getting rebranded as Talabat. As of September 2020, Talabat operates in Egypt.[20]
In October 2020, Talabat stated that it would begin operations in Iraq in early 2021, starting in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, with plans to add other cities later.[21]
In December 2020, Talabat’s app was added to the Huawei marketplace.[22]
In August 2021, Talabat was named the official food delivery provider for Expo 2020. Its pavilion presented concepts such as the cloud kitchen and featured multiple food brands.[23] In September 2021, Talabat and Terminus Group introduced ten autonomous food delivery robots for use by Expo 2020 visitors.[24] Expo 2020 itself launched on October 2021 following a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] While Talabat previously operated in Saudi Arabia, it no longer does. Users in Saudi Arabia are now redirected to HungerStation, another Delivery Hero subsidiary that serves the Saudi market.[26]