Are you thinking of starting a food delivery business? Many startups are emerging that find new, innovative ways to deliver food to consumers' doorsteps. And demand for this type of business is soaring.
Estimates suggest that the industry will bring in $1.82 billion in revenue by 2024 - a staggering figure.
If you're trying to learn how to start a food delivery business and need food delivery business ideas, you can use some of the innovative food delivery ideas outlined below to find inspiration.
4 Food Delivery Startup Business Ideas to Consider
1. Frozen Food Delivery
As an online food delivery business model, frozen food delivery is an amazing opportunity. There's a shift in the way people eat, and one thing is evolving right before our eyes. People want to eat healthier foods, yet they also want the convenience of fast food.
Fortunately, the fast-food industry has dropped the ball on the healthy aspect of food and has enabled frozen food delivery to take over.
Frozen foods don't mean bad food. Instead, the industry that is soaring is the healthy, frozen food options that are taking the fitness world by storm. Many of these options include:
- Customization options to meet your dietary needs
- Take, bake and eat options
Foodies and the health-conscious are eating these frozen food options often. If you live in a larger city where people are working professionals, stuck in offices all day, they're the perfect demographic to promote your business to because they usually:
- Want to find ways to be healthier
- Have the money to spend on deliveries
- Lack time to cook their own meals
However, if this idea doesn't interest you, there is a startup food delivery service out there that will.
2. Baked Goods
A complete opposite of the frozen food delivery outlined above is the baked good delivery service. How often have you wished you could have cookies or pie, but you didn't buy either of these items when you were at the store?
There could be a delivery service for that.
Bakery items are already a major revenue source for businesses worldwide. It's expected that commercial baked goods will be a $30 billionВ industry in the US alone. You can choose to:
- Deliver baked goods to restaurants and become a major supplier in the process
- Deliver fresh-baked goods directly to the doorstep of consumers
For example, there are already major operations for bakery delivery in some larger cities, such as Dallas. Consumers can go online and have baked goods sent to their doorsteps. Cookies and cakes are two of the most popular baked goods options available.
You can connect with local bakeries and deliver their baked items. However, if you've always wanted to run your own restaurant or bakery, you can always start a food delivery business that only delivers.В В
3. Grocery Delivery Startups
Starting a food delivery business has many approaches. One of the key approaches is to cater to everyone. While the frozen and baked good options above are great for a food delivery service, they do require a lot of research to make sure that they are viable in your area.
But people always need food and groceries.
Do you want to know how to start an online food delivery business with high demand? Deliver people's groceries to their door. Instacart and similar businesses already offer this service, but there's always room for more competition.
You'll be helping consumers get the food they want without needing to step foot inside of a grocery store.
Growth in this type of delivery service exploded in 2020 and 2021, and the primary driver for growth was the pandemic. People feared going to the grocery store, so delivery services rapidly filled the gap.
However, people are still demanding grocery delivery services because they offer:
- Immense time savings
- Less risk of ordering bad food
You'll need to connect with local grocery stores, which will need to integrate your delivery into their ordering process. Of course, there's a lot of work involved in this process, but it empowers you to grow your delivery service with the help of local grocery stores.
4. Corporate Food Deliveries
If you want to have your own kitchen and delivery service, one option is to offer corporate food deliveries. Corporations are always holding major events, and someone is catering and delivering the food at these events.
Reputation and marketing will prevail in these types of services.
You'll also have much higher profit margins if you opt to have your own kitchen, but you can also partner with other restaurants if you don't want to open a kitchen. Some of these services do both: cook and partner with restaurants.
Your business can offer:
- Food delivery and/or catering for corporate events
- Fill food needs for corporations with a free lunch policy
However, corporate food delivery is one of the business options where you need to do a lot of market research. Depending on the area where you live, corporate delivery may not be an option for you.
Even if there are one or two major corporations in your area, there's a risk that your business will no longer be viable if the business goes out of business or stops offering free lunch. However, in major business centers and larger cities, your business will be less risky and have the potential to make a lot of money quickly.
Food delivery businesses are soaring in popularity.
People across the world are having various food items sent directly to their homes or places of business. The convenience of delivery saves people time while also opening up a business opportunity for an entrepreneur like yourself.
While we covered many food delivery business trends, there are many more options available.
You can find a niche in the pet industry, as an example. Many pet owners want to have the best care for their animals, and the opportunity is immense for someone offering pet food delivery services.
Offer to deliver pet food, toys and medicines to pet owners to keep their pets happy and healthy.