The online trade in groceries and delivery services is booming. New services are conquering the market and want to fight for a monopoly position. The Berlin start-up Gorillas has particularly stood out in recent months. But the company has often been criticized recently.
Food delivery in ten minutes, at supermarket prices – that is the promise of gorillas. The young Berlin start-up wants to offer this in the future through a smartphone app and the be a new point of contact for comfortable people and those who avoid supermarkets because of the corona pandemic. Gorillas are already fighting with residents and employees and it is not sustainable.
The two Berlin entrepreneurs Jörg Kattner and Kagan Sümer founded Gorillas in March 2020. After a few months, the company value of Gorillas was put at over a billion dollars. Despite strong delivery service competition such as Flink, Bringoo or established names such as Rewe or Amazon, the company wants to conquer further market shares and most recently pocketed 244 million in investor amounts.
Much of it flowed into growth and international expansion. Over 800 people now work for Gorillas, the start-up is cycling in 15 German cities such as Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Munich. The delivery service monkeys have already expanded to Great Britain, France and the Netherlands.
Convenience has its price
Gorillas has recently been criticized primarily by many local residents: inside and because of questionable working conditions. The delivery promise behind Gorillas sounds very tempting: 1.80 euros delivery fee, just wait ten minutes, then the doorbell rings. If you are committed to such a fast delivery time, you have to do a lot logistically.
This can be remedied by local distribution centers, which are often located in the middle of popular neighborhoods such as Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, Hamburg-Sternschanze or in Munich’s Glockenbachviertel. The delivery and waiting traffic of the numerous bicycle couriers (“riders”) also creates social tension and noise complaints from residents.
The ongoing operation creates a permanent storage zone, the sidewalk is used for commercial purposes and that in the already narrow public space. In addition, there is the potential danger to traffic – including problems with keeping the required distance during the corona pandemic.
Many residents in Friedrichshain had to close a location after a successful lawsuit. But the company is also causing criticism on other points.
Bad working conditions and data leakage from gorillas
It was only in February that Gorillas announced that they would no longer deliver on Sundays. A decision solely for the reason that no longer violates applicable laws. The earnings of the riders are 10.50 euros per hour and thus one euro above the minimum wage. In mid-February, they went on strike at individual locations due to the extreme snowy weather.
First, Gorillas extended the delivery time to 20 minutes in order to finally cease operations in Berlin for a whole week after sufficient pressure from inside and outside. In addition, there are occasional complaints about poor equipment and unequal treatment of the workforce.
The Gorilla Workers Collective wants to take a critical look at the company (under the name Riders United Gorillas until May 20th).
The last time there was a security gap in the Gorillas app system, which resulted in a lot of order data and thousands of sensitive items personal data available on the internet was. This also included photos of doorbell signs and house entrances. According to Gorillas, the gap should now be closed again.
That is why gorillas are not sustainable
In addition to the socially questionable conditions and concerns about data protection, there is external influence. Because wherever money is pumped in, pressure is built up. A profitable business model is to be set up through rapid growth. The only question is who will bear the costs besides the investors.
In addition to the numerous supermarket chains and delivery services, Gorillas is now another player that is intensifying the competition for everyday food. Gorillas are penetrating this market with all their might and at competitive prices. Prices at supermarket level, delivery in less than ten minutes for a fee of just 1.80 euros: this will not be profitable in the long run.
Incidentally, Flink also offers the same conditions. This creates an enormous competition financed by millions, which is more reminiscent of a financing bubble in the aggressive scramble for monopoly than of a sustainable business model. Under the pressure of this business model, social peace in large cities suffers, and under the delivery promises, employees and residents in particular suffer.
Utopia says: Modern food suppliers such as Gorillas or Flink promote the “convenient lifestyle”, the self-image of getting everything conveniently via smartphone app. As a result, the appreciation and choice of food as well as the empathy for the logistics operated are lost to a certain extent. Our relationship with food is becoming even more alien. We make our purchase decision dependent on digital symbol images in the app and place the selection of food in the hands of the delivery services.
Anyone who values as little packaging material as possible hopes in vain. The purchase is delivered in a paper bag, but vegetables like to stay in plastic packaging.
How you can save packaging in the supermarket: Avoid packaging in the supermarket: 15 tips
All in all, the promise of gorillas sounds extremely tempting and hits a nerve, especially in the midst of the corona pandemic. Well suited for quick emergency shopping, it is questionable whether start-ups gorillas can establish themselves permanently. A future-proof business model and sustainable management look different.
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