A Path to Carbon-Free Food Delivery Blossoms in Brazil

People around the world may have finally “woke” (awoken) to fact that using lightweight vehicles like bikes and scooters, especially electric ones, to replace cars is a really good idea for the planet. 

Even in 2019, before the pandemic, people in the U.S. alone took 136 million trips using micro-mobility alternatives (up 60% from 2018) – and during that same timeframe, about 35% of car trips made are under two miles, per NACTO. With cities all over the world now experimenting with “slow streets” (without cars), expanding bikes lanes and more, Brazil is the first country to roll out a large commercial system for food deliveries that became absolutely essential as of Spring 2020. iFood and Tembici launched that pilot program last October covered by our friends at Fast Company.

Now, that e-bikes program dubbed “Pedal” is expanding from Brazil’s two largest cities to four other Brazilian capitals, where 2,500+ shared e-bikes will be in operation across six cities early 2022.  This makes it the largest eco-friendly food-delivery system in LatAm. Another similar one is just beginning to operate in South Africa as well. Perhaps this is an eco-trend that’s worth watching?

For iFood, the delivery giant in Latin America, ensuring we all “feed the world” without damaging the atmosphere further is a top priority. The company’s investing heavily in new approaches and partnerships to reach carbon free/zero plastic waste delivery by 2025 via its massive food networks (60M+ orders/month across 1,200+ cities in Brazil alone). Here’s more on that.

If people spend just USD $70 week on food deliveries, a sector that’s boomed around the world … their carbon footprint spikes 450% percent higher, per a study from the U.K. released in March.