“The circumstances of the pandemic have generally increased the acceptance of delivery services in society,” writes the young goflink team. Their Bonn landlord, Limbach Immobilien KG, expects the new offer to be the “future of food delivery” on the Rhine. But other local providers are also getting into the act.

With the recent contact restrictions, many Bonners are often deciding not to go into the city. In turn, the delivery industry is booming. Companies like Lieferando are experiencing a high volume of sales but are causing controversy due to the working conditions of their employed drivers. The company has often been criticised for making the tasks of its works council more difficult and for monitoring its own employees, amongst other things. Recently, Lieferando founder Jörg Gerbig emphasised in the Tagesschau news programme that fair conditions are important to him and that there may be “areas where we might have to make improvements”.

In contrast, goflink emphasises that “extensive consideration of labour law and social standards distinguishes us from some of our competitors.” The company promotes permanent positions for all couriers, with pay above the standard rates and “high-quality equipment”, for example electric bikes. Goflink’s claim is to be an “attractive employer” - naturally in Bonn, too.

But there are other companies already offering food deliveries in Bonn. The supermarket chain Rewe, for example, has been making deliveries since 2011 and sees the corona pandemic as a further strengthening of the sector. On its website, Rewe advertises a delivery time of “upon request up to two hours exactly” - an offer that goflink plans to top. The ten-minute delivery time promised by the company is also realistic for a household’s entire weekly shop, writes goflink. Local products and organic goods are also to be available in their range, with “over 1000 items for daily needs". A delivery fee of 1.80 euros is charged per delivery - regardless of the size of the shopping basket. Rewe has also been offering previously ordered goods for collection for several years.

The online supermarket Picnic, which delivers in the Lower Rhine and Ruhr areas, has had its eye on Bonn and the Rhineland for several months. The company wants to be present in the region before the end of this year and is looking for a suitable location for a 1000 to 1500-square-metre dispatch centre to house its electric delivery fleet. “As soon as we find what we are looking for here, we will be able to offer our service with free and contactless delivery in Bonn as well.” Demand at Picnic has increased by 400 per cent since the outbreak of the corona crisis, the company said in response to a GA query.

The founders of goflink plan to have expanded their service to more than 30 cities in Germany by the end of the year. And there are also plans for example in the Netherlands, where the company is already active, and in France. Now it remains to be seen whether the business model will realistically work in Bonn too.

(Original text: Luca Samlidis, Translation: Caroline Kusch)