iFood acquires SiteMercado to accelerate grocery delivery business

Acquisition will enable iFood to seamlessly integrate grocery retailers of all sizes, offering more choice for consumers
 
SÃO PAULO, September XX, 2020 – iFood, a leading foodtech company in Latin America, announced today the acquisition of SiteMercado, an online grocery marketplace platform provider, to accelerate the expansion of iFood’s grocery delivery business, iFood Mercado. The acquisition will further establish grocery delivery as an integral piece of the iFood ecosystem and allow the company to advance on its vision to become a leading food destination platform in Latin America.
 
Grocery is Brazil’s largest retail category, accounting for about a third of retail sales. However, the market is very fragmented, with more than half consisting of small grocery chains and independent grocers. As consumers continue to move online, the opportunity for online grocery delivery is immense. With the full integration of SiteMercado into the iFood platform, iFood, with an active consumer base of more than 12 million people across Brazil, becomes an even more valuable partner for grocers.
 
SiteMercado is a technology company specializing in online grocery. The company’s technology integrates with a supermarket’s front and back-end systems with minimal effort, ensuring pricing and availability is always up-to-date. The iFood Mercado online grocery platform, incorporating SiteMercado’s technology, paired with the leading delivery logistics capabilities of iFood, creates a positive experience for consumers, and a vast online business opportunity for grocery retailers.
 
iFood is already a household name when it comes to food delivery from consumer’s favorite restaurants. Now, iFood is moving towards fulfilling all of the food needs of consumers by expanding the availability and choice of grocery delivery. iFood Mercado was launched in 2019 and is already one of the largest grocery delivery platforms in the country with 2,100 grocers in 200 cities across Brazil and monthly order growth of more than 100%.
 
“Consumer habits are changing quickly and retailers need to stay on pace with the demands of their customers. iFood has enabled thousands of grocers across Brazil to bring their business online in the past year, opening up new revenue opportunities and allowing them to engage with a new set of consumers,” says Henrique Iwamoto, iFood’s Business VP. “We were able to quickly scale iFood Mercado because of our partnership with SiteMercado, so we are thrilled they are now officially part of the iFood family. We are certain that fully integrating SiteMercado with iFood will provide us with even more expertise to continue offering the best and most innovative solutions for the grocery delivery market.”
 
About iFood
iFood is one of the world's most innovative foodtech companies and a leader in online food delivery in Latin America with more than 45 million monthly orders in Brazil from more than 200,000 restaurants in 1,000+ cities. The Brazilian company uses business intelligence and management solutions to work with restaurant partners and drivers to provide the best food delivery experience to consumers. iFood has key investors including Movile – a leader in mobile marketplaces, and Just Eat Takeaway, one of the largest online food ordering companies in the world.