Australian food delivery platform Menulog will shut down on November 26 due to increasing expenses and growing competition in the market.

Menulog, the primary Australian-based food delivery company, has decided to shut down local operations due to difficult business situations, the company wrote in a letter to customers. It will close on November 26.

Menulog gained popularity for greatly investing in a marketing campaign in the US that included expensive ads with famous people like Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry.

However, Menulog was unable to turn that important marketing expenditure into profitability due to increased competition from US giants such as UberEats and DoorDash, as its business faced over a decade of financial losses. The company reported annual losses of $275 million, $110 million, and $32 million from 2022 to 2024. Following a period of rapid growth driven on by COVID-19 lockdowns, the losses were caused by the high cost of delivering services and a loss of market share to competitors.

Menulog’s new European owner, Prosus, a Dutch investment firm that acquired parent company Just Eat Takeaway.com earlier this year for €4.1 billion ($7.3 billion), made the decision to leave Australia.

At a time when Australians are spending more on food delivery, the departure leaves Uber Eats and DoorDash as the leading local competitors. According to a CommBank analysis, food delivery expenses increased by 6% after September 2024. Menulog's shutdown comes after Deliveroo and Foodora left the local market in 2022 and 2018, respectively. Local startups are unable to compete with US giants and Chinese operators like HungryPanda.

Menulog's local departure will result in the layoff of about 120 workers. Additionally, specific couriers will be eligible for voluntary payment for four weeks. Couriers will be paid according to their average weekly wages if they have finished a delivery during the last eight weeks.