Deliveroo and Alshaya Group have struck a partnership to bring a roster of international brands to on-demand customers in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, pairing the delivery platform’s logistics network with one of the region’s largest franchise operators.
The tie-up was set out by Alshaya Group, which operates dozens of well-known consumer brands across the Middle East. The companies did not publicly detail the full brand line-up or a rollout timeline in the materials shared with media, but the makeup of the teams involved points to a focus on retail rather than restaurant delivery. Deliveroo was represented by Nick Price, General Manager for Deliveroo Middle East; Prashant Talwar, Director of New Verticals; Carolina Makowska, Head of Retail; and Katja Herd, an account manager on the retail team. Alshaya Group was represented by Rob Silsbury, Vice President of Marketing and e-Commerce.
For Deliveroo, the agreement extends a multiyear push beyond its core food-delivery business. The company has steadily built out what it calls “new verticals,” folding grocery and retail into an app best known for restaurant orders. In the UAE, that effort runs under the Deliveroo Shopping banner, and the platform has said it has onboarded more than 1,500 retail and on-demand grocery partners across categories spanning health and wellness, beauty, electronics and pet supplies. Deliveroo has also rolled out a refreshed global brand platform built around the message that the service now offers more than food.
Alshaya Group brings a deep catalog of recognizable names to that effort. The family-owned Kuwaiti company, founded in 1890, is one of the world’s leading multi-brand franchise operators, running more than 70 international brands — among them Starbucks, H&M, Boots, Mothercare and Bath & Body Works — across upwards of 3,000 stores in the Middle East, North Africa, Türkiye and Europe. The group has been steadily expanding its online and digital business in recent years, and listing its brands on a major delivery platform fits that direction.
The partnership lands in two of Deliveroo’s Gulf markets. The platform operates in both the UAE and Kuwait, where on-demand delivery has become a crowded and fast-growing category as customers increasingly expect retail and convenience purchases — not just meals — to arrive within the hour. Placing Alshaya’s brands on Deliveroo gives those labels an additional digital storefront and a route to customers without each having to build out its own last-mile delivery.
Quick commerce and retail delivery have become a key battleground for food-delivery companies worldwide as they look to lift order frequency and basket sizes beyond the dinner rush. For Alshaya, meeting shoppers on a platform they already use offers a way to widen its digital reach in the Gulf. Neither company disclosed financial terms, and further details on the participating brands and the timing of the rollout are expected as the service goes live.
