Uber Discontinues Lunch Delivery Service

SEATTLE —Ride-sharing service Uber’s “Instant Delivery” lunch service has been discontinued in many major U.S. cities.

According to Geek Wire, the service, part of Uber’s UberEats app, launched one year ago and was originally incorporated into Uber’s traditional transportation app. Customers could pick from a handful of rotating lunch dishes from local restaurants, and Uber guaranteed a delivery time of 10 minutes or less because drivers carried prepared meals in temperature-controlled containers.

Uber expanded its food delivery service in Seattle this past March when it debuted a standalone food delivery app that rebranded the lunch program as “Instant Delivery,” while also offering a new full-on restaurant delivery service.

“Instant Delivery started as a proof of concept — if we could get a car to you in five minutes, what else could we deliver? We started with speed and a limited selection of menu items. Since launching Instant Delivery, UberEATS has significantly expanded from allowing people in downtown [Seattle] to pick four to five meals during the lunch hour to offering thousands of items at all hours of the day, and throughout the Puget Sound region. Our focus will remain on bringing customers an even better selection of on-demand meals, delivered as fast as possible,” Uber wrote in a statement to the news outlet.

In addition to Seattle, Instant Delivery was being tested in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Toronto.