Interview: Feleg from Deliver Addis

Over the last 12 months, there’s been a bit of a race among a number of entrepreneurs to
establish a home food delivery business in Addis Ababa. The number of people and investors
wanting to enter into this sector of Addis’ booming restaurant scene (I know of three already),
really does speak volumes for the potential within this market, and bodes well for those among
us in search of take-away!

One businessman who’s leading the race is Feleg Tsegaye – founder of Deliver Addis, which
launched in early 2015. Deliver Addis is an online platform through which you can place an
order with a number of partner restaurants and have food delivered to a chosen address within an
hour.

I had the pleasure to meet with Feleg recently, to find out a little bit more about how the business
works and where the inspiration came from. Feleg has been working 12+ hours a day, six days a
week for over a year now to get this off the ground…it’s clear to see this is not just a business,
but a personal passion and challenge. Having most recently lived in New York (the home of
takeout!) and with a background in IT, he seems just the man to get this race off to a booming
start

I have a feeling that over the next year, the home food delivery industry in Addis will really push
boundaries and change expectations around cuisine, eating out and customer service – I for one
am looking forward to seeing where it goes! Visit http://www.deliveraddis.com to find out more
about Deliver Addis.

What has the journey been like from concept to launch of Deliver Addis?
The concept came to me a few years ago when working as an IT consultant in Addis – I don’t
like cooking, was working long hours and having been brought up in the USA, I was used to
being able to order takeaway food – I couldn’t see any reason why this couldn’t work in Addis
Ababa. In March 2014 I set up a small private pilot, with a quick website and a few restaurants
on board. I tried the concept out on friends and their networks; I needed to be sure that the
concept of home delivery could work in Addis. The pilot helped me to build data around the
average order amount and frequency of orders, so I had something to go to investors with. One
day I was talking to one of my clients about this project, and they loved the idea. They
subsequently become investors in Deliver Addis. With their financial input and my IT
background, we were able to scale up from a basic concept to a public launch. We launched a
year after the pilot in March 2015.

Can you tell me about the team behind Deliver Addis?

We’re only six months old, so our team is small and evolving. At the moment it consists of
myself and several others from different backgrounds including IT, HR, management and
logistics. We also count the investors as part of the team, albeit silent ones!

What have been the challenges and surprise successes since opening?

I think it’s fair to say every start-up encounters challenges, and Deliver Addis has been no
exception. One of our main challenges (which I’m sure everyone will expect) is finding
customers. Addis is notorious for having no formal address system and streets tend to have both
formal and informal names. We get around this by customers registering their delivery locations
with GPS when they create an account, but nevertheless, we’ve had customers register their
location on the wrong side of town, then provide incorrect additional information and a wrong
phone number. Map reading isn’t second nature to many people, so pinning your location on a
map can be a huge challenge – we have incorporated geolocation to the system now to find
a customers position automatically where possible.

Other challenges include the safety of our motorbike drivers on Addis roads (especially in the
rainy season) and technology. Our business depends on an active phone and internet network,
and there are times when one or both will go down. If this happens across the whole city, there’s
little we can do and no one can place orders anyway. If it’s a localised outage however, we have
to relocate the team to a back-up office in another area of Addis to ensure we’re receiving orders
and can deliver.

The surprise successes, are less of a surprise, more of a relief – it works. People are ordering,
restaurants are contacting us to become partners and we’re reaching the targets we set ourselves
for our first six to 12 months of operation.

How did Deliver Addis decide on the current eight restaurants listed, to be your
first partners?

I started by being a customer at each partner restaurant to find out if their staff are attentive, if
they can turn around orders quickly, if the owners are actively engaged and if they offer take-
away. There are so many new restaurants opening in Addis, and many of them are top quality,
gourmet food. This doesn’t necessarily work for home delivery though, so the cuisine has to be
right.

With so many new restaurants, and with our brand becoming better known, we’re now getting
approached by restaurants to become partners – I’ll try every one of them myself first, and they
won’t all be appropriate, but I look forward to expanding the portfolio, not least because I
created this business for myself, to be able to get good take-away. As a regular customer, I’m
excited to see what new things I can order over the coming months.

How do your drivers manage to find every house and office within a constantly
changing city?

As I mentioned before we use GPS – it’s the only option in Addis. When someone registers for
an account, they can list a number of different addresses: home, work, friends etc. They can then
add notes to help the driver, along with a phone number. Our drivers have been trained to
provide excellent customer service, and always do everything they can to find every customer.

How important is it for Deliver Addis to include a mix of Ethiopian and Western
foods for customers?

A number of our partner restaurants do a mix of Ethiopian and Western food, making both
available to customers. Interestingly though, Ethiopians can be very particular about their food.
Shiro for example should be served bubbling in its pot, so turning up with Shiro that’s been
travelling for 20 minutes just doesn’t work. I think it’s also fair to say that Ethiopian cuisine is
quite tricky to transport – wot is generally liquid based which is prone to spilling on a motorbike
if the restaurant doesn’t have appropriate packaging.

What can customers expect from Deliver Addis over the next 12 months?

Good question…a lot! The main priority is to get a wider spread of cuisines on the site; we want
to have a diverse range of high quality restaurants, as that’s what our customers are looking for.
We’d also like to work towards expanding our hours [most restaurants on Deliver Addis
currently stop this service at 8pm] but this is going to take time as most restaurants close around
9pm. Those are the likely going to be the most visual changes and the rest will be IT
improvements around functionality, so that the customer experience becomes more seamless

Someone in this business has to be a big food lover! If you could eat anywhere in
the world, where would it be?

There is one place I’ve been intrigued about ever since seeing it on a programme – Noma, in
Copenhagen. I don’t even know if I’d like the food, but the experimental approach they take with
locally sourced ingredients is intriguing and would be quite an experience to try!
Delivery & Pricing
Once we have your order, we'll contact the restaurant and send a driver. We aim to deliver in an
hour or less but please be patient if you order during peak hours.

Each order can contain up to eight items so ordering with friends or colleagues is encouraged! If
you'd like to order more than eight items, you can place additional orders.

Deliveries are priced depending on your distance from the restaurant. Once you've logged in and
saved your location, you'll be able to see which restaurants you can order from or click on "See
restaurants near you" above.

0-3 KM

70 ETB
50 ETB

3-6 KM
85 ETB
70 ETB

6-9 KM

100 ETB
90 ETB

How it works?

1. Select a restaurant : Once you login and set your location, you’ll be able to see all the
restaurants around you within your delivery range. Pick a restaurant from the map to see
their opening hours, learn more, and see their menu.
2. Browse their menu : Once you’ve selected the restaurant you’d like to order from, take a
look at their menu to figure out what you’d like to eat. Place your choices in your basket,
tell us how many you’d like to order, and place your order!?
3. Place your order : Once you have all your choices in your cart, click on “Place your
order” and you’ll receive an e-mail or SMS confirmation of your order. Sit back and relax
and we’ll work to get it delivered to your door in an hour or less*

Privacy Policy
Roadrunner Technology Solutions LLC Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when
you visit or make a purchase from https://deliveraddis.com (the “Site”).

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device,
including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies
that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information
about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred
you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this
automatically-collected information as “Device Information.” We collect Device Information
using the following technologies: - “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or
computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about
cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org. - “Log files” track
actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet
service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps. - “Web beacons,” “tags,” and
“pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.
Additionally when you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase through the Site, we
collect certain information from you, including your name, billing address, shipping
address/location, payment information (including credit card details, mobile payment identifiers,
etc.), email address, and phone number. We refer to this information as “Order Information.”
When we talk about “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about
Device Information and Order Information.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION? We use the Order Information that
we collect generally to fulfill any orders placed through the Site (including processing your
payment information, arranging for shipping, and providing you with invoices and/or order
confirmations). Additionally, we use this Order Information to: Communicate with you; Screen
our orders for potential risk or fraud; and When in line with the preferences you have shared with
us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services. Help
restaurants improve their service Help improve your experience with our service We use the
Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular,
your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by
generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the
success of our marketing and advertising campaigns).

SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION We share your Personal Information with

third parties to help us use your Personal Information, as described above. We use Google
Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site--you can read more about how
Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/.
You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and
regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we
receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.
BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING As described above, we use your Personal Information to
provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of
interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the
Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at
http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work. You can
opt out of targeted advertising by: Unsubscribing from any of our mailing lists Informing Google
of your decision by submitting a request at https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
Informing us via email at help@deliveraddis.com Additionally, you can opt out of some of these
services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at:
http://optout.aboutads.info/.

DO NOT TRACK Please note that we do not alter our Site’s data collection and use practices
when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser. DATA RETENTION When you place
an order through the Site, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and
until you ask us to delete this information. MINORS The Site is not intended for individuals
under the age of 18. Specific portions of our website may also be prohibited for minors as per
Ethiopian laws and regulation. Users are required to provide accurate information to verify their
age when asked to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations. CHANGES We may
update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our
practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. CONTACT US For more
information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a
complaint, please contact us by e-mail at privacy@deliveraddis.com.

How and why companies become partner

with deliver addis and what are the benefits
for those companies when they are become
partner with deliver addis
How to become a vendor partner
Being a vendor partner with Deliver Addis means that you are providing a service that our
customers desire and are as committed to providing an exemplary level of customer service and
quality as we are. It also means having access to thousands of customers across Addis Ababa
without having to spend more money on rental space, marketing, and more.

Partnering with deliver addis have a lots of benfits for companies for example

generating business for small and medium enterprises – like restaurants that cannot afford space
or a good location – and creating jobs for young people as back-office staff or drivers.
for new business deliver addis give them time to become larger with already developed
customers

they don’t need a staff or employess for marketing, promotional and delivery service

20,000+
Registered customers
400,000+
Pageviews/month
4,000,000+
Value of goods sold/month (ETB)
What is the name of your business?
When did you start your business?
Where is your business located?
What does your business specialize in?
What is your average price range for your items?

What is your name?

What is the best telephone number to reach you at?
What is your email address?