Europe’s First Food Delivery By Drone To Be Launched In Dublin

Manna Aero, a Drone Delivery Service for dark kitchens and restaurant chains, will be launching Europe’s First fast-food delivery service by drone in South Dublin. Bobby Healy, the founder of Manna Aero, announced on ‘The Big Tech Show’ podcast, that the service would be launched in March, in a suburb with 30,000 residents. He expects there will be a high demand.

According to Healy, the aviation-grade drones, which fly at 80 km/h with guaranteed three-minute service, would deliver food from several chains, including Ben & Jerry’s and Camile Thai. “Camile Thai is a partner on the food side,” he said.

Major online food players involved in the delivery service app would feature a new drone symbol in their online apps or websites. “You’ll open the app, and, in the case of Camile Thai, it will offer for the food to be picked up by drone. If you order by drone, it will be delivered in less than three minutes,” Healy explained.

Brody Sweeney, chief executive of Camile Thai, said that the Manna Aero drone delivery system would have customers pick a landing spot near their home, such as a driveway or patio.

Healy said:

What we expect to happen is that there’ll be too much demand and so we’ll have to restrict it in some way. But anyone who wants to see it can just come along and see it happening. It will be in a public place.

Manna Aero’s aviation-grade drones were built in the US and Europe. Healy hopes to eventually scale up to 50,000 delivery drones for the UK and Irish markets. “We want to literally transform marketplaces, economies, and communities all over the world in a way that not just reduces our carbon footprint, but saves lives and creates jobs while doing so,” Healy envisions.

The service would provide a three-minute delivery promise for online meal ordering platforms, dark kitchens, and restaurants, but for a fraction of the cost of road-based deliveries. The delivery drone will be operated from the dark kitchen or restaurant site and is accessible to online food platforms and food tech providers in Dublin. ‘Dark kitchen’ is a relatively new term, which typically refers to a container or unit in an industrial area, where food is prepared for delivery.

Recently, the company received €4.7 million in funding from Dynamo Ventures, a company that specializes in logistics firms and supply chains. The Irish Aviation Authority had also been supportive of the initiative.