Japan's Golden Week starts with food fight among delivery rivals

Newcomers vie with Uber for slice of market as restaurant sales plunge

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Uber Eats delivery men in Tokyo: Rivals are vying to win new customers stuck at home during Golden Week in late April and early May. © Getty Images

WATARU SUZUKI, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Food delivery companies are offering steep discounts during Japan's Golden Week holiday, as they fight for a slice an industry that is growing rapidly, partly due to the new coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, which quietly launched a food delivery service in Osaka in early April, plans to make a splash with 50% discounts on orders from Wednesday through May 6. A person close to the company said it would launch the campaign having partnerships with about 1,500 restaurants, far more than when Uber Eats, the food delivery arm of U.S. rival Uber Technologies, launched in Japan in 2016 with a few hundred restaurants.

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