This is according to Joe Falter, founder and chief executive officer of Hellofood, who told HumanIPO: “All over the world, people order food from restaurants online, saving time and expanding their food options. In Nigeria, and much of Africa, this was not possible until Hellofood arrived on the scene.”
Falter said the experience in the nation’s online restaurant services shows there are still limited e-commerce options being made available to Nigerians in spite of the nation’s robust ICT sector.
“Nigeria is an example of a huge market with very high internet penetration and a population that seeks out new technology, but which has very limited e-commerce options,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to come out to Lagos – because I feel there’s a huge untapped opportunity here and in Hellofood’s five other African markets.”
He said the goal is to make the website the first place people think of when they are hungry.
“So our goal is to be operational in literally every large city in Africa, and we have an aggressive expansion plan to match that goal.”
While Hellofood currently operates in 6 different markets, Nigeria is its first and largest market.
“Nigeria was our first market, and is our largest at the moment, but the other countries are catching up quickly. In Nigeria we have a very high order volume – people really get Hellofood here, and now we have launched iPhone and Android apps, and have a Blackberry app on the way too, it’s never been easier to order food,” he said.
