European meal-ordering service Just Eat Takeaway.com is partnering with Albert Heijn, the Netherlands-based flagship division of supermarket operator Ahold, to deliver groceries and convenience products, according to a Tuesday (April 12) Reuters report.
The collaboration brings together the country’s biggest food delivery service and its largest grocery store chain. Ahold has its own grocery delivery service and operates eCommerce site Bol.com, which is more popular than Amazon in the region.
The Just Eat Takeaway-Ahold partnership will target about 1,200 products, highlighted by higher-margin products including fresh produce and convenience products.
After fast-grocery services including Gorillas, Flink and Getir realized unprecedented growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and other major cities across the Netherlands have banned new distribution centers in residential areas.
Ahold and Just Eat Takeaway will target a 30-minute delivery time for orders under their collaboration compared to the 10 or 15 minutes promised by some of the fast grocery startups on which consumers rely.
Related: McDonald’s, Just Eat Takeaway Form Delivery Partnership
In March, Just Eat Takeaway signed a long-term strategic partnership with McDonald’s to expand delivery.
“This partnership will elevate existing local partnerships between Just Eat Takeaway.com and McDonalds, which will reduce complexity and provide great opportunity to innovate at scale together on operational efficiency and a seamless customer experience,” the Dutch company said on its website at the time of the collaboration.
McDonald’s has offered delivery through its McDelivery program for the last five years, with the service expanding from 3,000 locations at launch to more than 33,000 restaurants in 300 countries today, Just Eat Takeaway said.
The fast-food giant has had a partnership with Grubhub — which was acquired by Just Eat Takeaway last year — since 2019.
Speaking to analysts earlier this year, Just Eat Takeaway said it goal is outperform its competitors to the point that they bow out of the market.
“There are still players in markets in which I believe they have a [challenging] position, so I would encourage them to leave those countries, but they are not leaving those countries thus far,” said company CEO Jitse Groen.