Fast-delivery grocery service Getir has announced that it will be pulling out of the Dutch, German and British markets, after gaining popularity during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has stated that it will continue to operate in its home country of Turkey. 

Flink is now the only remaining fast grocery service in the Netherlands

The news of Getir’s departure means that German-based grocery business Flink is the last of its kind to still be operating within the Netherlands. Gorillas, a similar fast grocery delivery platform which worked with the Jumbo supermarket chain, was taken over by Getir in 2022, and rival delivery service Zapp departed the Netherlands later on in 2022. The British delivery firm Deliveroo also left the Netherlands in 2022, citing difficulties with the law and whether their employees were to be classified as freelancers or workers. 

Getir made a number of moves to try and secure its business in 2023 before making the decision to pull out of the Dutch market. In August 2023 the firm closed five of its stores in Amsterdam and ceased operations in six Dutch cities in an attempt to cut it losses.

Fast delivery market struggling after COVID-19 pandemic

The services offered by fast grocery delivery companies have become much less popular since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. While in lockdown, many people found it more convenient and safer to simply have groceries delivered online, either from legacy supermarkets such as Albert Heijn or Jumbo, or fast-delivery platforms such as Getir, Gorillas and Flink for those last-minute forgotten items or smaller shops. 

The services, which often promise delivery of groceries in 10 minutes or less, faced initial success during the pandemic, but soon found themselves in an ultra-competitive market, with a growing amount of restrictions on where they could place their distribution centres.

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