French food delivery startup Epicery has shut down after nearly a decade of establishment and it marks another casualty in the competitive world of niche startups.
The story of Epicery is one of highs and lows as it soared during the COVID-19 lockdowns when food delivery became essential. It simultaneously attracted a majority investment from Geopost in 2021. It struggled when the pandemic faded out and customers started returning to in-person shopping, Inflation further squeezed household budgets and premium groceries became less attractive. It was forced to cut back operations to focus more on Paris and Lyon, but the strategy didn’t work. It had a negative EBITDA of €4.69 million against sales of just €2.57 million in 2023.
The platform was small in scale and served about 25,000 regular customers. It partnered with about 1,100 local shops in the areas of operations. It was not enough to thrive as a venture-backed company even though it might have been sustainable as a standalone lifestyle business. Moreover, being part of a large group like Geopost added pressure to deliver bigger results. Epicery failed to achieve the target figure in the competitive food delivery market.
The rising competition from giants like Uber Eats and Deliveroo as well as the collapse of quick-commerce rivals like Cajoo and Flink made the niche seem smaller.
However, everything was snot bad with Epicery as it proved that local retailers could succeed in e-commerce.
The numbers didn’t work out for Epicery but its model showed promise as there is potential for similar platforms to emerge in an age where local businesses are keen to grow digitally.
The closure is now a reminder that success is not just about good ideas, but it is about timing, scale and the ability to adapt.
