Deliveroo: Secrets of Your Takeaway, review: frustrating documentary failed to probe the gig economy
According to Deliveroo: Secrets of Your Takeaway (Channel 4), the city of Birmingham orders more curries and drinks more prosecco than anywhere else in the UK. Shot over eight months, this film told the behind-the-scenes story of how Britain’s fastest-growing food delivery firm revolutionised the takeaway industry – and how it’s navigating the storm which has buffeted the hospitality industry this year.
Founder and CEO Will Shu was enlightening on the early years of his game-changing gastronomic app. It was inspired by his dismay at his City banker colleagues all eating microwave paellas from Tesco. We saw how customers, couriers and restaurants are now connected by an algorithm nicknamed “Frank”.
The restaurateurs selling their wares through Deliveroo were candid about the toll that the pandemic has taken on their business. “I have high hopes it’s all going to be over in a couple of months,” said Verity Foss from vegan diner chain Oowee. A few months later, Oowee was facing financial ruin.
Unfortunately, this documentary seemed without narrative purpose or thesis. At times it felt like a puff piece, keen to sell this global empire as one big happy family. In return for access all areas, filmmakers were reluctant to ask tough questions, skipping over the copious flaws of the gig economy. It was mentioned in passing that Deliveroo riders got no sick pay or employment rights. This went dumbly unexplored.
Deliveroo’s battle with arch rival Uber Eats was touched upon but not pursued. There were missed opportunities at every turn. As 2020 unfolded, with restaurants closing, pivoting to takeaways, then reopening at half-capacity, you got the sense that the goalposts were moving so rapidly, the programme struggled to keep up. Ultimately, this frustrating film felt like a disappointing takeaway. It left us hungry for something more substantial.
