Uber enters Vancouver food-delivery market with UberEats app

    1 of 2 2 of 2

      Although British Columbia is still waiting for Uber to become available in the province, the company is entering Vancouver's food-delivery market.

      The UberEats food-delivery app is hitting Vancouver streets today (December 6).

      UberEats, which is available in numerous cities around the world, first launched in Canada in Toronto in December 2015. It has since expanded to Canadian cities such as Montreal, Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Calgary.

      The service will be delivering meals from over 130 Vancouver eateries, including Poké Time, Papproti, Rocky Mountain Flatbread, JamJar, Thai Away Home, House Special, Taco Shack, Glory Juice Co., and Vera's Burger Shack.

      As of the launch at 10 a.m. this morning, delivery will initially be available within downtown Vancouver, Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Chinatown, and the Downtown Eastside, in an area east of Blenheim Street, north of 33rd Avenue, and west of Nanaimo Street.

      The service is entering an increasingly busy market that includes Foodora, Just Eat, Skip the Dishes, and more.

      Uber had previously launched a promotion to deliver free ice-cream sandwiches from locally based Earnest Ice Cream on August 25 within the same delivery zone designated for UberEats.

      Things went disastrously awry when the ice-cream became unavailable during the promised delivery time, thereby angering customers. Earnest Ice Cream issued an apology that stated that they had "made a mistake" for partnering with Uber.

      "Last week we made an agreement to sell ice cream sandwiches to a business who’s [sic] values do not align with our own," Earnest Ice Cream stated on social media. "As we educated ourselves more thoroughly about Uber, we recognized that this is not a good fit for us. We apologize for not doing our due diligence ahead of time and we hope to rebuild the trust that may have been lost with some of you."

      The provincial government had promised to bring Uber into B.C. before the end of the year.

      However in October, the NDP government backtracked and said ride-hailing services won't be available until a review, which will include consultations with the taxi industry, is completed by early 2018. Consequently, Uber may not be available in B.C. until the spring.

      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at @cinecraig or on Facebook

      Comments