Following the food delivery business, Meituan’s drone business has taken an important step in the Middle East market. The reporter learned that on December 17, local time, the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) had issued Meituan Keeta Air Deliveryl L the first license to deliver products in Dubai Silicon Oasis in Dubai Silicon Valley. It is worth mentioning that the overseas name of Meituan’s drone business is “KeetaDrone”. As early as last year’s GITEX Global exhibition, KeetaDrone announced its participation in the “Dubai Experimental Zone: BVLOS Drone Delivery Program” jointly launched by DCAA and Dubai Future Foundation.


Now, with the issuance of the license, Meituan's drone business has officially started operations in Dubai's Silicon Valley, which will bring a new delivery model to the Middle East market. It is worth noting that there is news that Meituan’s front-end warehouse business Xiaoxiang Supermarket has begun the process of going overseas, and its first stop is Saudi Arabia, led by Meituan veteran Liu Wei. However, Meituan has not yet responded to this matter.

Meituan drone flies into Dubai's Silicon Valley

It is reported that Dubai Silicon Valley announced the official operation of four drone delivery services on the same day. Initially, KeetaDrone invested 6 drones to provide food, medicine and necessities delivery services to key areas such as Dubai Digital Park.

A reporter from the "Kechuangban Daily" learned from the customer service office of the Dubai Silicon Oasis KFC store in Dubai Silicon Valley that the specific operation of the drone delivery business is not yet clear. The current delivery fee is 9.5 dirhams (approximately 19 yuan).

Mao Niannian, vice president of Meituan and president of KeetaDrone, said that the UAE’s advanced policies and strong support for technological innovation have played a key role in Meituan’s business here. “Demand for on-demand delivery services is high in Dubai and the operational challenges posed by extreme weather highlight the potential of drone delivery to improve efficiency and reliability.”

According to the official public account of Meituan Drone, there are multiple routes in Dubai for Meituan Drone to access instant retail and medical delivery services in parallel at the same landing point. By designing different meal boxes, users within the delivery range of the landing point can quickly distinguish the categories of delivered items, and help staff standardize operational processes in different delivery scenarios.

Yuan Shuai, executive vice president of the Agricultural, Cultural and Tourism Industry Revitalization Research Institute, told a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the Middle East has experienced rapid economic development in recent years and is actively promoting economic diversification to reduce dependence on oil. This provides broad development space for emerging services such as takeout and fresh food e-commerce.

Yuan Shuai further analyzed that the food delivery business, as an entry point, can quickly attract users and accumulate traffic; fresh food e-commerce has further enriched product lines and met users' needs for daily necessities; and drone delivery has improved delivery efficiency and reduced labor costs. Especially in the vast geographical environment of the Middle East with a dispersed population, drone delivery has more advantages.

Using the Middle East as a springboard, Wang Xing wants to create another Meituan overseas?

In May last year, Meituan Waimai turned its attention to the unexpected market in mainland China for the first time and launched Keeta in the Mong Kok area of ​​Hong Kong, China. In just five months, Keeta successfully covered all areas of Hong Kong, China, demonstrating strong market expansion capabilities.

Subsequently, Meituan started its layout in the international market. In September this year, Keeta entered the Middle East market and went online in Al Khaj, a small town 180 kilometers away from the Saudi capital Riyadh with a population of only 400,000. A month later, Keeta landed in Riyadh, the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia.

A reporter from "Kechuangban Daily" noticed that in the food delivery market in the Middle East, there are already many platforms competing fiercely.

Major players in the region include “Hungerstation”, “Jahez” and “Marsool”, as well as foreign competitors such as UberEats, Talabat, Lugmety and Carriage. Faced with so many competitors, Meituan’s Keeta has chosen a different path.

Unlike many traditional Chinese-run takeout platforms, Keeta does not limit its target customers to the Chinese population. It provides localized visual, language and payment service design for all users in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, Keeta continued the strategy of domestic Internet platforms, using high subsidies to create price advantages, attracting user conversions, and quickly occupying the market.

"We are still in a very early stage, and it doesn't make much sense to discuss data and financial results. We hope to achieve better development based on the current development momentum." Meituan CEO Wang Xing responded to investors' concerns about KeeTa's development in the Middle East at the 2024 third quarter financial report meeting. "We hope to bring products and services to more audiences, eat better and live better, not only in the Chinese market, but also in the global market."

EqualOcean analyst Zheng Xinran said in an interview with a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the difficulty of going overseas does not lie in replicating domestic experience, but in in-depth localization.

In her view, Meituan also faces huge challenges in adapting to the local market. In the long term, compared with the original "Big Three" in the Saudi market, Meituan's localized operating costs may add huge pressure to cash flow after cash-burning subsidies. At the same time, due to major differences in social and cultural customs, the food on Keeta needs to be labeled and inspected to see if it is halal, and the halal food of cooperative merchants needs to pass Halal certification, which will expose Keeta to greater food safety compliance risks.

Zheng Xinran further analyzed to reporters that from a team perspective, Keeta is still dominated by a Chinese team, equipped with certain local language, marketing and supply chain talents. However, talents with overseas work experience and knowledge of Arabic are relatively scarce. As the team expands, there may be a certain talent gap. "Ideally, Keeta will be expected to repeat the success of Hong Kong in Saudi Arabia, but as the first Chinese food delivery giant to go to Saudi Arabia, Meituan is very likely to bear the risks and pains of this unique global market."