Chowdeck’s food delivery principles have proven that smart last-mile and quick delivery thinking can win in tough markets.
The company’s success in Nigeria, delivering food amounting to N1 billion monthly, shows that data-driven delivery, cost efficiency, and solid vendor partnerships build resilience.
There is a lot that African food logistics and delivery businesses can learn from Chowdeck’s approach, and in this article, we will show how to apply these lessons to thrive even when others fail.
Chowdeck’s Food Delivery Principles: Why They Win
Chowdeck built its logistics strategy on discipline and planning.
This is why the company’s success comes as no surprise, considering Nigeria’s recent economy has been harsh for the last-mile and delivery industry. Rising fuel prices, high inflation, and constant traffic jams make logistics a daily fight.
Bolt Food and Jumia Food exited the market in 2023 after struggling to make a profit. Both cited worsening macroeconomic conditions (high inflation, fuel-price shocks, economic downturn) and stiff competition as key factors.
Although Chowdeck faced the same hurdles, the company continues to succeed.
Here are the company’s food logistics principles that guarantee success.
Logistics and Technology Innovations
Chowdeck runs a lean but powerful tech team with outstanding investments in technology. These investments in technology has allowed the company to operate with precision and flexibility never seen before.
1. Data-Driven Delivery Dispatch
Chowdeck’s logistics system tracks every order using geotagging. It matches each delivery to the nearest rider, which reduces travel time and cuts fuel costs. This way, riders handle more deliveries in less time, keeping service fast and consistent.
Daily data forecasts tell Chowdeck where and when demand will peak. So, for example, when 10,000 orders come in, the system makes sure enough riders are active. This ensures the delivery process and food logistics run smoothly, even during lunch rush or bad weather.
2. Multi-Modal Fleet and Coverage
Chowdeck deploys a mix of bicycles and motorcycles, optimizing for distance. About 86% of its orders are short-distance runs. The company uses bicycles for short runs and motorcycles for longer trips.
In cities like Lagos, this matters a great deal. Roads clog with traffic, so bikes weave through tight spaces to make fast deliveries. These bikes also cost less, which allows them to run while keeping fees stable.
This multimodal balance makes Chowdeck’s food delivery principles strong in a market where fuel prices jump without warning.
3. Demand Forecasting and Analytics
Chowdeck continually collects data to refine operations, which it leverages through analytics to predict peak times for each restaurant, adjust rider deployment, and notify vendors to staff up.
Cost Efficiency and Sustainable Unit Economics
Chowdeck is realistic about economic realities and avoids unnecessary price promotions.
CEO Femi Aluko emphasized: “We won’t build our company on bad unit economics or subsidize prices based on VC funding.” Unlike earlier entrants who heavily subsidized prices, Chowdeck kept discounts low and only offered promotions on behalf of restaurants.
Chowdeck charges fees that cover its costs. After the fuel subsidy removal, delivery fees went up by 50%. Some competitors feared losing customers and tried to manage the situation by offering low prices, but Chowdeck stuck to its plan, which is why every delivery turns a profit.
Vendors trust Chowdeck because prices are fair, and they don’t fight over discounts. Riders earn enough to stay loyal. All of these have built a chain of trust that fuels growth.
Read more: Target Canada’s failed expansion & supply chain Mismanagement.
Workforce Management and Incentives
Riders are the lifeblood of any delivery system. Chowdeck treats them well. Top riders earn more than many office workers in Nigeria. Bonuses for working on Sunday, housing support, and career growth make riders see Chowdeck as a real employer.
This loyalty pays off. When demand spikes, riders work hard. They handle more orders and keep customers happy. However, Chowdeck’s high take rate (24–25%), surge pricing, and service fees have given it the ability to cover its generous rider pay.
In fact, Chowdeck wants riders to earn more than competitors, with many riders on the platform making ₦100–200k per month (3X Nigeria’s minimum wage).
Ensuring efficiencies through key logistics tech solutions (geotag dispatch, consolidated routes, short-haul focus) helps keep unit costs down enough to pay riders well and still profit.
Vendor Partnerships and Relations
Chowdeck targets strategic partnerships for bigger food brands, but the company is also committed to increasing the capacity of the smaller brands. Here are some of its key strategies for effective vendor relations:
1. Strategic Partnerships
Chowdeck has aggressively pursued partnerships with large, established chains. It strategically onboarded quick-service giants like Chicken Republic (100+ outlets), Burger King, and Bukka Hut.
By securing exclusive or high-volume deals with big brands, Chowdeck has ensured a steady order flow, which has won customers looking for familiar options.
It has partnered with on-demand groceries (Shoprite partnership and pharmacies, turning potential competitors into vendors).
2. Supporting Small Vendors
Initially, Chowdeck listed many roadside eateries and corner shops, but scaling up revealed pain points. Some smaller vendors struggled with Chowdeck’s high order volume and tech demands.
Chowdeck responded by offering tools and support: hiring temporary staff for peak times, linking vendors to management firms, and facilitating microloans through banking partners.
The company integrated analytics to predict each restaurant’s orders so kitchens can prepare in advance. While its aggressive growth has strained some partners, Chowdeck is actively investing in vendor success to sustain this growth.
3. Ensuring Transparency
Chowdeck earned vendors’ trust by not competing on food pricing (it only relays restaurant-set prices) and by using transparent tracking to reduce order errors.
These practices have built loyalty: many vendors now consider Chowdeck their primary delivery platform in regions where it operates. They are now more like partners rather than just clients.
Read more: Dollar General’s inventory overstocking mistake that cost millions.
Lessons from Chowdeck’s Food Delivery Principles in Nigeria
Chowdeck’s resilience in the Nigerian food market points to a model that offers several key takeaways for African logistics and delivery ventures:
1. Use Data to Drive Delivery
Chowdeck’s success comes from its tech-first approach. Real-time tracking, geotagging, and smart dispatch systems mean there is no guesswork in the decision-making process.
Food logistics technology that connects drivers, vendors, and customers in real time keeps everyone in sync. This approach cuts delivery times and keeps costs down.
2. Prioritize Profits Over Discounts
The food logistics model in Nigeria and across Africa shows that discounts can kill a business. When Chowdecks’ competitors chased users with low prices, they burned through cash. Meanwhile, Chowdeck focused on making each delivery profitable.
Higher prices may scare off some customers, but they build a lasting business.
3. Invest in Your Workforce
Riders at Chowdeck stay because they earn well. Bonuses, housing support, and fair pay mean riders deliver more orders per day.
The logistics and supply chain operations run on people. When workers feel valued, they work harder and stay longer.
4. Adapt to Tough Markets
Nigeria’s economy is unpredictable, and fuel prices go up and down, even as inflation eats into margins. Chowdeck can stay ahead by using data to make decisions and being flexible enough to adapt to these economic realities.
Flexibility keeps your logistics operations alive. Build your model to survive shocks.
Read more: How Massmart’s supply chain survived South Africa’s 2021 unrest.
How African Food Delivery Businesses Can Apply Chowdeck’s Principles
The success of Chowdeck’s food delivery principles is a testament to what is possible even in harsh economic conditions and realities. However, the application of these lessons can be tricky. Here is how to start:
1. Start with Market Research: Know what customers want. Understand traffic, local regulations, and popular dishes.
2. Deploy Smart Technology: Use tools that match orders to drivers, predict demand, and manage stock.
3. Balance Cost and Efficiency: Run pilots to set fair prices that cover costs. Don’t race to the bottom on price.
4. Support Your Workforce: Pay drivers fairly. Offer bonuses for hard work. Give them training to grow.
5. Build Vendor Partnerships: Work with both big brands and small sellers. Give them tools to manage orders and payments.
6. Plan for Economic Shocks: Have a pricing plan that adjusts when fuel or food prices rise. Stay flexible.
Chowdeck’s Story: A Roadmap for African Food Logistics & Delivery
The success of Chowdeck’s food delivery principles has rightly defied logic in a market where others failed. The company proved that data, discipline, and people power beat flashy discounts and big marketing budgets.
African food logistics and delivery businesses can learn from Chowdeck’s approach. Start small, build trust, pay your workers well, and stay close to your numbers. When tough times hit, your business will stand strong.
Chowdeck’s resilience in Nigeria shows that the right supply chain can thrive with smart choices and hard work.
Obinabo Tochukwu Tabansi is a supply chain digital writer & ghostwriter helping professionals and business owners across Africa explore various strategies that work and learn from the success and failures of various supply chains across the globe. He also ghostwrites social content for logistics & supply chain businesses
