[Global Times Special Correspondent Li Xueqi in Hong Kong] The mainland food delivery platform Meituan has entered the Hong Kong market and started recruiting food delivery riders locally.

Many Hong Kong people saw this news and hoped that the mainland food delivery platform could stimulate the industry to develop more actively in Hong Kong.

In fact, as an international metropolis, although Hong Kong is also a gourmet capital, the food delivery industry has always been unsatisfactory.

Although the epidemic has made the food delivery industry more or less a rigid demand for some people in Hong Kong, it remains to be seen whether it can continue to develop.

　　The Global Times reporter has lived in Hong Kong for many years, and when he saw the news of Meituan entering Hong Kong, he was both happy and worried.

The joy is that I hope that the platform can form strong competition with the current food delivery service in Hong Kong and bring a better experience; the worry is that due to high manpower and other operating costs, Meituan may not be able to change the ecology of the food delivery industry in Hong Kong .

　　Many people who have ordered takeaway in Hong Kong have only one word for it - expensive!

At present, food delivery platforms in Hong Kong mainly include the British company "Deliveroo" and the German company "Foodpanda".

Compared with the delivery fee of 3 to 5 yuan on the mainland platform, the delivery fee of these two platforms in Hong Kong often starts at 20 Hong Kong dollars (about 17.6 yuan). During busy periods, the delivery fee may be higher.

　　The takeaway price of the food itself is also prohibitive for consumers. The price of the same food on the takeaway platform is often a few yuan more expensive than that in the store.

Not only that, Hong Kong's takeaway has problems such as small delivery range and uncontrollable time.

Once an order is placed, there is no convenient refund or complaint operation even if it is not delivered within an hour or two.

All of these have led to limited development of the takeaway market in Hong Kong.

　　During the epidemic, Hong Kong people’s demand for food delivery surged, and the business of these platforms was once booming. However, the above-mentioned problems have not been completely resolved, and they still exist today.

The platform itself has its own difficulties - Fu Panda once said that because resources are invested in increasing manpower and improving user service experience, the actual profit is not high.

Its parent company "Delivery Hero" (Delivery Hero)'s financial report at the end of last year showed that even in the first half of last year, when the epidemic was severe and the demand for food delivery increased sharply, the company's Asian business still failed to break even.

However, Uber Eats, the food delivery platform owned by the American transportation network company Uber, which once formed a tripartite rivalry with Huhusong and Fupanda, did not even get a dividend under the epidemic, and sadly announced the suspension of operations in Hong Kong at the end of 2021.

　　For Hong Kong people, local food delivery platforms have always been difficult to provide satisfactory services, so even after the epidemic era, these food delivery platforms have not been able to cultivate consumers' new eating habits.

When life gradually returns to normal, many Hong Kong people still choose to eat out.

　　However, many people around the reporter are expecting that the food delivery platforms in the mainland will "roll up" the food delivery industry in Hong Kong, stimulating them to bring consumers more cheap and high-quality services.

In recent years, many electronic platforms such as convenience stores and logistics have set their sights on Hong Kong. The presence and operation of these platforms has not only brought more jobs to Hong Kong, but also revitalized the city's service industry.