Home delivery of groceries: following Cajoo, Gopuff, Gorillas, Flink are being “liquidated” in France

Express home shopping platform Flink, which employs 218 people in France, “will be liquidated” on Friday, its management told AFP on Thursday, which said it was stopping payments at a Paris commercial court.

The company, one of the last to operate in France in the sector, has been hit by an inflationary context, “still strong regulatory pressure” and “investor disinterest” in the sector, Chairman and CEO William Luskan said.

Resumption in September

Last June, Flink France was placed under the management of company manager Guillaume Luscant, then CEO of the German parent company and Algerian startup Yassir. The new enterprise was named New Flink France. This acquisition allowed for the retention of 56% of the workforce, or more than 200 employees.

The startup Yassir, “specialized in on-demand and payment services, is one of the most valuable in the EMEA region,” according to Guillaume Luscant, has invested five million euros in the business.

But inflation has put pressure on product purchasing conditions and regulatory pressure, “which remains strong,” will require “significant” investment by New Flink France to convert a number of its facilities, the company’s CEO explained to AFP.

Finally, “the financial context is very difficult,” with investors “losing interest in the sector” after recent disappointments in “flash trade” or express grocery home delivery, he concluded.

Indeed, in March 2023, very strict regulations put an end to “flash commerce” players. The government has ruled that “dark warehouses,” those spaces where food is stored for delivery, are warehouses and not businesses, paving the way for city halls to regulate the activity and even close some facilities.

The Turkish company Getir, which managed the Getir, Frichti and Gorillas brands, then announced its withdrawal from the French market. Getir and Gorillas were liquidated, leaving 1,300 employees in the lurch, but Frichty moved on to rival La Belle Vie.

Flink, created in 2020 in Germany by logistics and distribution specialists, has established itself in France in 2021. Its turnover in France amounted to 37.5 million euros.

The market that hasn’t disappeared

Although they arrived in the French market with great fanfare, taking advantage of the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, there are now few of the fifteen or so players specializing in express delivery left.

Flink, Kaju, Gopuff, Gorillas and others engaged in intense competition with extremely aggressive promotional activities funded by impressive fundraising.

A model that economically “suffocated” them because it operated “at a loss” to retain customers and destroy competitors, MP Maud Gatel (MoDem), co-author of the report, explained to AFP on this matter.

Despite these bankruptcies, “fast commerce” is here to stay. According to Maude Gatel, this market, while still “modest, continues to grow and could reach a turnover of 438 million euros in 2030.”

Players for whom this was not their DNA have recently positioned themselves in this niche, such as Uber Eats or Deliveroo.