China food delivery juggernaut Meituan has commenced its recruitment process for a slew of positions in Hong Kong, as its latest attempt to break into markets outside mainland China to fuel new growth.
Since October 2022, Meituan has reportedly been considering expansion into Hong Kong and other international markets. Tony Qiu, who previously served as the head of international business at Kuaishou Technology, will be leading the expansion plans, Bloomberg reported.
Currently, Meituan has 21 available positions listed on its recruitment page, covering roles from product management, business development, and key account management, among others. Some of the job posts were posted as early as December 2022.
Local news outlet Hong Kong Economic Times, which was the first to report the recruitment news, said that Meituan plans to launch its on-demand food delivery service “in a few months”, citing a source familiar with the matters.
The firm is also hiring motorcycle riders, walkers, and cyclists, according to an official Telegram channel set up by the firm. In order to attract more delivery workers to join the firm, it boasts a new joiner bonus that enables workers to earn up to HK$2,500 ($318.8) should they deliver at least 253 orders within the first 14 days.
Hong Kong’s food delivery market has long been dominated by two major players — Foodpanda and Deliveroo, since UberEats, the food delivery arm of Uber, exited the market in late 2021.
As of Q2 2022, Foodpanda booked a 64% market share in terms of revenue, while Deliveroo logged 36% of the slice, according to data from consumer insights firm Measurable AI.
Dealstreetasia has reached out to Meituan, Foodpanda, and Deliveroo to seek comments for this article.
In November 2022, over 1,000 Foodpanda delivery workers staged a 2-day strike to call out the firm’s new payment system resulting in pay cuts among some of the couriers. But Foodpanda told local media that they have never lowered the service fee, while the minimum service fee remained the same since late 2021.