FOOD ON THE GO: CLICK-AND-COLLECT AND DELIVERY WORLDWIDE
From daily groceries to prepared meals, click-and-collect and delivery services are changing consumption habits worldwide, with creative solutions that balance convenience and sustainability.
One of the earliest inspirations for modern food delivery can be found in India with the famous dabbawallahs of Mumbai. For over a century, this network of delivery workers has ensured that hot home-cooked meals reach office workers in time for lunch. Using a combination of bicycles, handcarts and trains, and guided by a colour-coded system of incredible precision, they move hundreds of thousands of tiffin boxes every day. Their model, built on coordination and efficiency rather than technology, has become legendary. In many ways, the dabbawallahs anticipated today’s “last-mile delivery” challenges and remain a shining example of how local ingenuity can create sustainable systems.
Today, the rise of digital platforms has further changed food delivery and collection in India. Companies like Zomato and Swiggy have become ubiquitous in many cities, offering restaurant meals on demand, sometimes even groceries or everyday essentials. There are also very fast “quick commerce” models: Blinkit (formerly Grofers) promises grocery deliveries within ten minutes in many cities, using dark stores and dense logistics networks.
Across the world, food click-and-collect has emerged as a practical middle ground between shopping in person and home delivery. In North America, Amazon has become a major player in online groceries through its Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market click-and-collect and delivery services. Customers can order fresh produce and pantry staples online, then either schedule home delivery or pick up their shopping at convenient collection points, integrating e-commerce efficiency with everyday food shopping.
In the US and the UK, many restaurants and supermarkets offer both click-and-collect and food delivery, with intermediaries or courier aggregators (e.g. DoorDash, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat) fulfilling the home delivery side. In densely populated Asian cities, delivery via food couriers on motorbikes, bicycles or even on foot is common, sometimes with aggregation hubs or micro-warehouses for groceries.
In Europe, supermarkets and restaurants have embraced the model, allowing customers to order online and collect at a chosen time. This approach reduces the need for additional delivery journeys and helps consumers integrate shopping with their daily routines. In France, Shopopop, a crowdshipping platform launched in 2015, connects retailers with private individuals who, during their own commutes or errands, deliver groceries or prepared meals to nearby customers. By using trips that are already taking place, the model saves time, limits emissions, and creates a community-driven alternative to traditional courier fleets.
In South America, food delivery has also become a vibrant part of urban life. Brazil, with its sprawling cities and growing middle class, has seen rapid growth in app-based services such as iFood, which today delivers millions of meals daily. The company has begun investing in electric bikes and other low-emission vehicles, showing how the region is embracing innovation with sustainability in mind. Meanwhile, in Argentina and Chile, local platforms support both restaurants and independent delivery workers, while click-and-collect is expanding in supermarkets as a way to streamline busy family schedules. These developments illustrate how delivery and collection are not simply about convenience, but also about enabling more balanced lifestyles in crowded urban centres.
Africa offers equally inspiring examples. In Nigeria, Jumia Food built a large presence in online food ordering, partnering with restaurants and supermarkets to serve major cities like Lagos and Abuja. The platform also promotes click-and-collect in areas where home delivery is less practical, giving customers flexible options. In Kenya, the service Glovo, which operates in Europe, Western Asia and Africa, has expanded beyond restaurants to include groceries, creating opportunities for local retailers to reach customers more efficiently. At the same time, smaller community-based initiatives use bicycles and motorbikes to deliver meals, often providing employment for young people and helping families access affordable, fresh food without long journeys across congested cities.
Globally, these services highlight the same trend: food delivery and collection are no longer luxuries but integral to modern urban living. And as European Mobility Week reminds us, the way we move food can be as important as the way we move ourselves. If delivery networks embrace eco-friendly solutions—be it through cargo bikes in European cities, community-based courier networks in Africa, or the timeless efficiency of India’s dabbawallahs—they can contribute positively to the sustainability agenda. Click-and-collect, meanwhile, offers an understated but powerful alternative: a way to reduce delivery traffic while still enjoying the speed and simplicity of digital ordering.
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