Discover how a delivery business develops an ecosystem that benefits everything from innovation to education
As a Brazilian company, iFood not only promotes the food ecosystem but also invests in national causes and technologies to also have a positive impact on the economy, the environment, education — and in many other fields. Want to know how? We count it on the list below!
Bet on national technology
Everyone knows that iFood and its partner Speedbird Aero were the first in the Americas to receive authorization to deliver using drones, huh? What not everyone realizes is that this is a technology developed 100% in Brazil by Speedbird.
The same goes for the ADA robot, an autonomous electric vehicle that transports meals to iFood Hubs in shopping malls and was developed in partnership with Synkar, a Brazilian company specialized in artificial intelligence. And more news is coming iFood Labs, the startup hub that in 2021 generated 30 new businesses and 7 investments in foodtech, logistics, retail, martech, fintech and greentech.
Positive impact on the economy
The iFood operation generates jobs and wealth for Brazil: in 2020, the company moved R$ 31.8 billion in the country, equivalent to 0.43% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), and generated 730 thousand jobs, according to a study carried out by Fipe (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas). Today, more than 300,000 restaurants and establishments deliver using the iFood platform.
And the positive impact only multiplies: for every R$ 1,000 spent on the iFood platform, R$ 1,414 are generated in the Brazilian economy — and for every 100 direct jobs created by foodtech, another 60 are opened in other sectors, according to Fipe.
Regeneration of our forests
Actions to protect and regenerate our biomes are always on iFood's radar. By neutralizing CO2 emissions from all deliveries in 2021, for example, we help financially protect the Amazon —more precisely, an area the size of 125 official football fields. And when we encourage donations in the app to SOS Mata Atlântica planting more trees, we help protect this endangered biome.
Education for social inclusion
O iFood Takes Off is committed to impacting, by 2025, 10 million Brazilians, supporting technology education in public schools and empowering people for the work of the future.
And it also has the goal of training and employing 25,000 underrepresented professionals in the technology market to combat the threat of technological blackout of Brazil with programs such as Tech Power and the iLab.
Combating social emergencies
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, iFood invested R$ 160 million to protect delivery partners, offering insurance and paid leave to professionals who became ill even before Law 14,297 determined the offering of these benefits. Result: 8 out of 10 delivery drivers considered foodtech initiatives to combat the coronavirus to be very positive, according to a survey by Instituto Locomotiva.
Furthermore, since 2020, the company has collected around R$ 16 million in donations made in the app and for partners and converted these resources into 3 tons of food, distributed to more than 680 thousand people in situations of social vulnerability, whether due to food insecurity or to tragedies like the floods in southern Bahia.
