GERMANY: Kaufland ends food delivery service after pilot phase | Progresiv
Kaufland informed the employees and customers of its food delivery service in Berlin that the offer will be discontinued by the end of the pilot phase on 23 December 2017. Kaufland had started the service in October 2016 as a local test operation. 
"We very much regret that we can not offer employees in Berlin a long-term perspective and we thank them for their outstanding commitment in recent months," says Patrick Kaudewitz, Chairman of the Board of Kaufland. For the approximately 300 employees in Berlin, who are mainly active in the areas of logistics and delivery, acceptable solutions are created. Around 80 employees at the company headquarters in Heilbronn, which deal with the delivery service, are offered employment in other functions within the corporate group.
The operational experience and customer feedback during the pilot phase were positive. "The past year has shown that we were also able to convince many customers to use the services of Kaufland when it came to supplying food," says Kaudewitz. "With regard to profitability, price and market development, however, we saw that a delivery service in the food sector can not be operated on a cost-covering basis. Even on the Internet, customers should be able to rely on our price promises. Higher prices for food delivery are not an option for us.”
Plans to expand the service to other cities will be discontinued. After the end of the pilot phase, Kaufland is concentrating initially on the digital innovation potential in the stationery business, from which the company and its customers will benefit more. (www.freshplaza.com)
