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BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Deliveroo launch drone deliveries in Dublin
Deliveroo has launched drone deliveries in Dublin. Over the coming days, customers within a 3km radius of Blanchardstown will be able to order from local restaurants. Plans are to launch grocery and retail drop-offs within the next six months. The drone deliveries are powered by Manna, and the test phase in Blanchardstown will see orders from local restaurants flown to customers "in as little as three minutes". Deliveroo have said they will use the initial weeks to assess how drones can help serve suburban and harder to reach locations. Advertisement Restaurants included in using the drone deliveries will include Musashi, WOW Burger, Boojum and Elephant & Castle. This is the first time the platform has offered drone delivery for its customers anywhere in the world. Drones will be deployed from Manna's local delivery hub, flying at speeds of up to 80km/h with a flight time of as little as three minutes, Deliveroo said. Upon arrival, the drone hovers and lowers the food to the ground via a secure, biodegradable tether, ensuring a seamless and contact-free delivery experience. Carlo Mocci, chief business officer at Deliveroo, said that their mission is to bring local neighbourhood favourites to as many people's doors as possible. Advertisement "We're excited to explore how drones can help us reach new customers, complementing our existing rider model and if successful, the prospect of expanding drone deliveries across Ireland and into other markets." Eligible customers within the correct radius will need to validate their address via the app before it confirms a suitable pin location for a safe drop off, typically a driveway, front, or back garden. Once an order is placed, they will be able to track the delivery as usual and will be notified when the drone is nearby so they can receive the order.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Now THAT'S what you call fast food! Deliveroo launches a drone delivery service - with takeaways delivered in as little as three minutes
The next time you order a takeaway, it might be flown directly to your door. Today, Deliveroo has launched its first drone delivery service for customers in Ireland. Drones travelling at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kph) will carry food from restaurants to customers in as little as three minutes. Upon arrival, the drone will hover above the customer's home and gently lower the food to the ground on a tether before returning to the delivery hub. Launching in Blanchardstown, on the outskirts of Dublin, the trial will cover a 1.8-mile (3km) radius, reaching up to 150,000 people. The weeks-long trial will be used to assess whether drone services are a good option for suburban and hard-to-reach areas. Currently, drone delivery will only be available for select local restaurants, but Deliveroo hopes to offer grocery and retail deliveries within the next six months. Carlo Mocci, Chief Business Officer at Deliveroo says: 'Our mission is to bring local neighbourhood favourites to as many people's doors as possible, and constantly raise the bar on the experience and service we provide - so I'm thrilled to launch drone deliveries in Dublin today.' In order to get food delivered by a drone, customers in the eligible radius will first need to validate their address via the app to confirm a suitable location for drop-off. This will need to be an open area without any overhead obstructions such as a driveway or garden. Once the order is placed, customers will be able to track their delivery as usual and will be notified once the drone is nearby so they can collect the order. The company says there will be no additional fees for either the partner restaurants or customers using drone options and Deliveroo Plus members will still be eligible for free delivery while using the service. The drone services themselves will be provided by Manna, an Irish drone delivery startup founded in 2018. Since securing regulatory approval, Manna has already made 170,000 delivery flights in the trial area and has partnerships with rival food delivery firms Just Eat and Doordash. Each drone weighs 23kg and has room for 4kg of cargo, enough to carry four large takeaway pizzas with room to spare. Although the drones have eight propellers powered by aerospace-grade motors, Manna says that they can safely fly with just four in case of an emergency. The drones will be provided by drone delivery startup Manna. They are capable of travelling up to 50 miles per hour (80 kmph), reaching customers in as little as three minutes The drones are also equipped with a number of other safety features including backup systems and a parachute. The drones are launched from a delivery hub where Manna employees charge the drones and load the customer's orders ahead of launch. Once the drones set off, they fly autonomously to the customer's address but are monitored by a dispatcher throughout the flight. When the drone reaches the agreed drop-off location, the dispatcher uses the onboard cameras to ensure the ground is clear of people or cars before dropping the delivery. According to Deliveroo, switching from cars and bikes to drones will allow their deliveries to avoid congestion on the ground. That should make deliveries faster and more energy efficient, especially in suburban areas where delivery is more time-consuming. In the future, Deliveroo says it would like to expand this service to other markets such as the UK, but this will depend on regulations. Currently, drones in the UK can't be flown beyond their operator's line of sight - making autonomous delivery services impossible. However, the government recently announced a £20 million investment in commercial drone technology alongside the promise of regulatory reform. New rules could support the launch of flying taxis in the UK by 2028 with legislation for beyond-line-of-sight drones coming as soon as 2026. While the initial rules are only expected to cover exceptional areas such as open water, this has raised hopes for more drone delivery options in the UK. Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that easier drone delivery trials would be one of 60 measures intended to reduce bureaucracy. Recently, Amazon revealed that Darlington, County Durham will be the first UK town to see parcels delivered by drone as part of a trial of Amazon Prime Air. However, the Civil Aviation Authority has still to come up with rules on how commercial drones can safely be used for deliveries. Amazon acknowledged there was still much work to do but said it was 'ready and excited'. 'We have built safe and reliable drone delivery services elsewhere in the world in close relationship with regulators and the communities we serve, and we are working to do the same in the UK,' it said in a statement. Delivery firms are pioneering a host of new technologies to tackle the last mile of deliveries. It is hoped the vehicles can cut the inefficiencies, and hence costs, of the final stage of delivery, in which packages are taken from a central hub to your door. Amazon envisions making last mile deliveries with an army of autonomous drones that drop packages on your doorstep. Amazon has billed the service 'Prime Air' and claims the drones will increase the overall safety and efficiency of its transport system. Just one pilot could oversee several of the drones at once, meaning the firm could someday pay fewer people to make the same number of deliveries. Another company, Starship Technologies, envisions its autonomous delivery service using land-based robots. Each six-wheeled 'ground drone' is almost completely self-driving, and is constantly connected to the internet, using GPS to find its destination. Walking on the pavement at about 4mph (3km/h), robots can complete local deliveries within five to 30 minutes from a local hub or retail outlet. Self-driving cars are another last mile option being considered by some delivery companies. Supermarket operator Kroger is testing a fleet of self-driving grocery cars that can carry as many as ten bags of shopping to your door. Customers can order groceries via Kroger's website or mobile app and select same-day or next-day delivery. Customers who take advantage of Kroger's driverless grocery delivery system will still have to walk to the curb outside their house to retrieve the groceries.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Telegraph
The 34 best restaurants in Malta
In the last decade Malta has morphed from a nation still culinarily compromised by the legacy of British colonial cooking to a truly gourmet Mediterranean destination. It received its first Michelin stars in 2020,and now has seven Michelin-starred restaurants, one of them with two stars. All serve primarily modern Mediterranean cuisine. Many more restaurants are named and praised in the Malta Michelin Guide. You can still get a great full English breakfast, or even a butty and beer if you insist, but you can also eat extremely well (without Michelin stars) for far less than in the UK. So why not avail yourself of the region's best with perfectly cooked fish fresh from the surrounding sea cooked with just-off-the-bush capers and local white wine, or fresh lobster ravioli and sumptuous steak followed by ricotta cassata, gooey hot chocolate pudding or homemade fig ice cream. The Maltese love their food, so the country is full of excellent restaurants, patronised by locals and visitors alike. Portions are often large, and nobody here wants to rush through a meal, so allow a bit of time, relax, and enjoy. Find out more below, or read on to find our most mouth-watering suggestions for where to eat around the island. We also have guides helping you plan a weekend in Valletta, the best places to stay, how to fill your time on the island (and what you can do for free), plus the best beaches and bars. Find a restaurant by type: Best all-rounders Rubino An unassuming Dickensian shopfront leads to this smart but relaxed Valletta favourite, with white tablecloths and walls decorated with wine bottles and bottled vegetables. The blackboard menu of excellent traditional Maltese, Sicilian and Mediterranean dishes changes daily. There is always a mix of meat and fish, and usually a rabbit dish (much loved by locals). The slow-cooked lamb melts in the mouth, and don't miss Rubino's rightly famous Sicilian cassata – made with ricotta cheese, not too sweet and utterly delectable. Service is efficient, knowledgeable and friendly. Awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand (for 'good quality and good value food') since 2020, this is a place to return to again and again. Guzé In one of Valletta's oldest houses said to have belonged to the city's sixteenth-century Maltese architect (Girolamo Cassar), you'll find Guzé. This intimate, family-run restaurant serves consistently excellent food in an elegant but relaxed limestone-and-white-linen interior. Equally good are their perfectly cooked fresh fish dishes and the large value-for-money fillet steak. The carpaccio of sea bass and panatone are both (in their very different ways) subtly delicious and the hot chocolate pudding will pull any chocolate lover back for more.
South China Morning Post
11-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
What a 33-year-old congee chain's closure says about Hong Kong
The news of Ocean Empire, a 33-year-old congee restaurant chain, suddenly shutting down is not surprising. The catering industry has struggled mightily since Hong Kong reopened its borders after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and many local restaurants have bitten the dust. Advertisement The disrupter of the century so far, the pandemic has permanently changed so much in our lives – and not just in terms of people falling ill. We can see the effects of Covid-19 in every closed shop and struggling business . We can also see the impact of the measures taken to fight the pandemic in the lingering effects of prolonged isolation and limited socialisation on schoolchildren. Pandemic measures have changed our behaviour so much that Hongkongers are now eating out less . When the weekend arrives, people venture out to Shenzhen or other nearby mainland cities in search of better bargains and service. Revenge spending ' – the surge of spending that arose after months of boredom and sheltering in tiny living spaces – has turned into a habit for some. And as nostalgic as some of us are for the 'old' Hong Kong, far too many people continue to seek new experiences in new places. Even after the intrigue and excitement of the new wears off, the easy access to the mainland and the many choices and better prices businesses there offer consumers make it difficult to win back customers and diners at home. That is why the news of so many local restaurants shutting shop is alarming but no longer surprising. 03:39 Shop occupancy recovers in Hong Kong, but vacant stores still visible across the city Shop occupancy recovers in Hong Kong, but vacant stores still visible across the city Has enough been done to reverse this trend? Our government has definitely tried with some expensive campaigns, starting with ' Night Vibes Hong Kong ', in an effort to resuscitate the nightlife for which the city was once known. The pandemic choked off our nightlife and, after three years, we got accustomed to staying home.
