Uber may have taken a crushing blow in Spain after the courts prohibited it from operating in Spain late last year, but it is already reinventing itself. The controversial ride-sharing service is now reinventing itself as UberEATS, converting its network of drivers into food deliverymen.
Uber is working with Barcelona food guide website Plateselector to create a meal rotation, and everyday its drivers’ cars are stocked with packaged food for delivery. Each meal costs around €10 ($11) with a €2.50 ($3) delivery charge on top: all a customer needs to do to order is fire up the Uber app and choose the Eats icon. You will need to update your app if you’re in Barcelona and would like to try it out, though, since a judge ordered telecoms in the country to block access to it. While the carriers complied, Uber rolled out an update that routes connections through a different address, giving the city’s residents a way to order food during lazy Sunday mornings.
If that sounds familiar, it is because Uber already operate something similar called UberFresh in the suburbs of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
Uber was forced to shut down after widespread protests from Spain’s native taxi drivers, which is just one of the many hurdles the company has faced in its international expansion. In New Delhi, the capital city of India, the service was temporarily shut down after a public furor over the rape of a woman by an Uber driver. The service was later restored after Uber promised more stringent background checks and compliance with local laws. Still, Uber has constantly shown itself to be more than capable of rising above challenges, fueled by more than $4 billion from investors and bond holders.
