Abu Dhabi-based agriculture firm Al Dahra has launched a grocery delivery website in a bid to capture the e-commerce market, which has grown exponentially in the UAE since the onset of the global pandemic.
Food Crowd will deliver groceries, including fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat, pantry goods and bottled water and juices, as well as pre-selected boxes of fresh produce.
The company said that the “exponential increase“ in the uptake of online shopping from consumers who have shifted to e-commerce sites in light of the pandemic, “has created a huge gap in UAE’s online grocery sector”.
“Hence, Food Crowd was created with the aim of giving the UAE’s savvy online shoppers access to the best quality products,” it said in a statement.
The rapid migration to online shopping and e-commerce has been one of the major business trends of the global pandemic, with quick-commerce companies such as Dubai-based InstaShop reporting surging gross merchandise value (GMV).
The shopping app said its year-on-year GMV in the second quarter of 2020 was up 330 percent year-on- year to $300 million. The app was acquired by Germany-based food delivery giant Delivery Hero for $360 million earlier this year.
Food Crowd’s owner, Al Dahra, is 50 percent owned by Abu Dhabi’s state holding company ADQ.
The company has pledged to source products directly from producers and growers, and focus on sustainability and safety, with reusable packaging and contactless delivery. A community page on the website will provide recipes, video tutorials and healthy lifestyle tips.
“Our vision at Al Dhara goes hand in hand with our mission to providing our community with the best food produce and products, utilising our extensive expertise in agriculture,” said Hamdan Al Darei, chief operations officer of Al Dahra Agriculture.
Al Dahra is present in 45 markets around the world. Food Crowd is currently available in Abu Dhabi only.