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Everyone loses in the rage of China’s delivery wars
Companies are caught in a race to the bottom.
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You might think that consumers were winning in a golden age of cheap goodies, but restaurants are cutting back on costs.
PHOTO: EPA
The Economist
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Boiled beef noodles gave Mr He Wei a delectable idea. A decade ago the businessman, based in China’s wealthy coastal province of Jiangsu, started a small restaurant selling them.
Now he has a chain of 100 such outlets. But life is getting less palatable for millions of small eateries and cafes across China. Not only is consumer spending sluggish, but the tech platforms that operate China’s food delivery services are also battling over prices, often dropping the cost of products to next to nothing and forcing merchants such as Mr He to cover the bill. Welcome to the front line of the “delivery wars”.
