Source | Dingjiao One ID | dingjiaoone Author | Dingjiao One Team
Austrian writer Stefan Zweig described Brazil in his book "Brazil: Land of the Future" as a place where "people can hear the strong wind of future wings." Today, this land, hailed as the "country of the future," is attracting a gathering of Chinese internet giants. On April 5 this year, Didi announced the restart of its food delivery business in Brazil, launching under the "99 Food" brand on June 16 in the central Brazilian city of Goiânia. Meituan, meanwhile, announced in May that its international food delivery brand "Keeta" would enter Brazil, officially starting operations on October 30, with initial pilot cities being Santos and São Vicente on the coast of São Paulo state. This is not the first overseas foray for either company. As early as the end of 2019, Didi had entered Brazil's food delivery business with "99 Food," but later suspended it in 2023 due to external circumstances. Meituan began exploring overseas business in 2022, with Keeta officially launching in Hong Kong, China, in May of the following year; it subsequently entered Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, and in September this year started operations in Dubai, UAE, completing its strategic layout across the four Gulf countries. When two giants simultaneously set their sights on the dining tables of Brazil's 210 million people, a head-on clash is almost inevitable. Over the past three months, the two have even taken each other to court multiple times over competition issues, with tensions escalating. What kind of business is food delivery in Brazil? What are the chances of success for these domestic giants? Brazil's Food Delivery Market: Didi and Meituan Besiege iFood As the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil's value is self-evident. The widespread payment network brings enormous growth potential, making it a must-fight battleground for companies going global. From a market fundamentals perspective, Brazil has a population of over 200 million, with internet users accounting for more than 80%, and smartphone penetration among the highest in South America. More critically, Brazil's food delivery market is still in a phase of rapid growth. Image source / pexels Euromonitor data shows that from 2018 to 2023, the Latin American food delivery market grew rapidly, from $7.497 billion to $37.918 billion, maintaining growth for seven consecutive years. In terms of penetration, the Latin American food delivery market penetration rate was only 16.1% in 2023. With the domestic food delivery market growth slowing, Brazil's blue ocean presents enormous opportunities. Compared to Meituan, Didi has deeper business ties with Brazil. In 2018, Didi acquired Brazilian ride-hailing platform 99 Taxi for $1 billion, entering the Brazilian market with its core ride-hailing service. At the end of the following year, Didi attempted to enter the local food delivery business with "99 Food." At that time, the Brazilian food delivery battlefield was dominated by local player iFood, while global player Uber had entered the Brazilian market with Uber Eats as early as 2016. Rappi, originating from Colombia, also entered Brazil in 2016 and continued to deepen its presence, becoming a variable not to be ignored thanks to its Latin American roots. Around 2020, due to external environmental shocks, Brazil's food delivery market underwent a reshuffle. The "local strongman" iFood held over 80% market share, and by 2022, it was even reported to require merchants to choose between platforms. This directly led to Uber Eats exiting Brazil's food delivery business, and Didi also decided to suspend its food delivery operations in Brazil in 2023, shifting to grocery delivery services. With that, domestic platforms' expansion into Brazil's food delivery market entered a strategic buffer period. It wasn't until 2023 that Brazil's antitrust body introduced new regulations prohibiting food delivery platforms from signing exclusive agreements with merchants, reopening competitive space and providing an opportunity for newcomers to re-enter. In the current Brazilian food delivery market, iFood still holds an absolute dominant position with about 80% market share. However, new variables have emerged in the industry landscape: in November this year, Uber chose to return to the Brazilian food delivery market with a new strategy—not by restarting Uber Eats, but by integrating an iFood service entry point into its main app to achieve business synergy. Meanwhile, Rappi has increased its investment in the Brazilian market, currently holding about 9% market share and maintaining stable competitiveness. Didi, returning to the track, and Meituan, a new entrant, are the new forces in this round of competition. Both have prepared for a prolonged battle. Didi announced an investment of 2 billion reais (approximately 2.67 billion RMB) in Brazil, to be used for expanding the 99 Food business footprint, establishing local partnerships, and advancing technology. Meituan plans to invest $1 billion (approximately 7 billion RMB) over five years to build a nationwide instant delivery network in Brazil. The participation of the two domestic giants has made iFood uneasy. On August 5, iFood announced in Brazil that it would invest 17 billion reais (approximately 22 billion RMB) by March 2026, aiming to boost platform traffic, increase user repurchase rates, and expand credit business. This is the largest investment plan in the company's history. In Brazil's food delivery market, a "second start" is being rekindled. Why Choose Brazil? Didi has years of mobility infrastructure in Latin America, while Meituan has a highly mature food delivery operation system. The common driving force behind their overseas expansion is the imagination space brought by international business. Didi's Q2 report shows that revenue from China's mobility market was 50.3 billion RMB, up 10.3% from 45.6 billion RMB in the same period last year; international market revenue was 3.413 billion RMB, up 27.8% from 2.67 billion RMB in the same period last year. Although the scale of international business is still relatively small, its growth rate is clearly outpacing domestic. Image source / Didi Chuxing official Weibo For Didi, this provides support for expanding its food delivery business. Specifically in the Brazilian market, as of 2025, Didi has 50 million active users and about 700,000 active riders in Brazil, mainly providing delivery and mobility services, covering over 3,300 towns and cities, with a coverage rate of nearly 60%. Orders for two-wheeled mobility services have exceeded 1 billion in the past three years. The "mobility + food delivery" model has already found mature examples globally. In Uber's previous Q2 report, food delivery business growth had already surpassed ride-hailing. In the latest Q3 report, ride-hailing order volume grew 20% year-over-year, while delivery order value grew about 25%. In terms of revenue and monetization, ride-hailing monetization rate weakened against the trend, while delivery monetization rate continued to rise, increasing by about 0.6 percentage points year-over-year on a high base. This means Uber's delivery business is surpassing its core ride-hailing business, becoming its growth driver. For Didi, Uber's success in food delivery serves as a reference model. On Meituan's side, although it has not disclosed detailed overseas financial data, the phased results of its Keeta brand in Hong Kong and the Middle East have already proven to the market the replicability of Meituan's model. Keeta entered the Hong Kong market in May 2023. According to a report by data agency Measurable AI, by Q1 2024, Meituan Keeta's order volume (food delivery only, excluding grocery and pickup services) accounted for 43%, ranking first, with Foodpanda and Deliveroo at 37% and 20%, respectively. Deliveroo announced its exit from the Hong Kong market in March this year, having stated in its 2024 annual report that "due to the challenging competitive environment, Hong Kong is lagging behind in major markets." In the Middle East, Keeta has covered 20 cities in Saudi Arabia and quickly become one of the top three food delivery platforms locally. Morgan Stanley estimates that under a base scenario, Keeta's GMV in the Middle East could reach $6 billion by 2028, representing a 20% share; under a bull case, $8 billion, or 27% GMV share. This shows that Meituan is packaging its domestically proven "fulfillment capability + digital operations" system and exporting it overseas, quickly achieving success. With domestic competition intensifying, going overseas has become a necessity. Didi is trying to replicate Uber's "mobility + food delivery" model, while Meituan is replicating its mature experience overseas. Brazil has become the touchstone for validating these two models. Common Challenges and User Expectations Beyond similar motivations for going overseas, Didi and Meituan's internationalization paths also face common challenges, including industry barriers that all players must address, as well as issues related to their respective DNA. Localization and reshaping consumer mindsets are the first hurdles they must overcome. Chen Cheng, who lives in Hong Kong, said that although Keeta has entered the Hong Kong market, Uber entered earlier and is still a more familiar name to locals. "For example, my dad (a 63-year-old Hong Kong local) only knows Uber," she said. She noted that Hong Kong has relatively more mainlanders, who are more receptive to new brands, but winning over mainstream local users in Brazil is more difficult for any platform. Kathy, a Chinese person working in São Paulo, Brazil, shares the same feeling. She told the author that the most used food delivery platform locally is still iFood, which holds nearly 80% of the absolute market. Didi's 99Food has a slight advantage due to its ride-hailing business accumulation, while Keeta has just launched and is still in its infancy. The second challenge is the fulfillment pressure brought by high labor costs. Image source / pexels "Brazil's food delivery market is not as saturated as China's, and riders refuse to engage in involution, so labor costs are higher," Kathy believes. Without regional differentiation strategies, new platforms will find it hard to quickly gain traction with a 'faster' experience at the start. In Hong Kong, Chen Cheng's experience is more pronounced: "In Hong Kong, food delivery is done by bicycle, and wait times are almost always over an hour." She explained that if platforms want to achieve fulfillment efficiency close to mainland levels, they must expand the rider fleet, which in overseas markets where labor costs "only increase," means bearing higher costs. In addition to these common challenges, Didi and Meituan also face their own shortcomings: "lack of food delivery DNA" and "insufficient local experience," respectively. Despite the challenges, the weaknesses of local platforms leave key breakthroughs for Chinese players. Kathy bluntly stated that iFood lags severely in user experience, "not being smart enough in language options, payment methods, and personalized recommendations, especially lacking direct communication channels between merchants and consumers." In contrast, domestic food delivery platforms are a dimensionality reduction strike in app design and algorithm technology. She mentioned that even though iFood has the widest coverage, it doesn't offer promotions or coupons, and delivery fees are high, typically 9.9 reais, 19.9 reais, or 29.9 reais per order (10 reais is approximately 7.5 RMB). If new platforms adopt promotional strategies, they can attract price-sensitive users. For example, on 99 Food, new users can receive coupons totaling 99 reais, and the platform also issues coupons irregularly; recently, there were large coupons like "50-40" available. In Hong Kong, Chen Cheng encountered similar issues: "Uber Eats has no communication channel between merchants and consumers, canceling a wrong order is cumbersome, and refunds are difficult; after-sales basically relies on writing emails." She told the author that delivery fees are also not cheap, averaging around 20 RMB per order in Hong Kong. These user feedbacks precisely indicate that local players still have room for service optimization, thereby increasing user expectations for new platforms. Both consumers hope that with continued investment from Didi and Meituan, the local food delivery market will gradually align with mainland standards in service quality, fulfillment experience, and user operations. Additionally, "Brazil currently has no group-buying, so new players still have significant imagination space in delivery subsidies and group-buying business development," Kathy joked: "If group-buying comes out, Meituan would have no rivals."