The food delivery scene in Nigeria is not what it used to be. A few years ago, ordering food through an app felt like a Lagos luxury, something for the tech crowd or the soft-life crew. Now, it is everyday life for thousands of workers, entrepreneurs, and students across cities. From lunchtime deliveries to late-night cravings in, the fact is, Nigerians are leaning on platforms that promise convenience at the tap of a button.

Among the players in this fast-growing space, Glovo, Chowdeck, Bolt Food, and Jumia Food, but right now, the heat is between just two: Glovo and Chowdeck. And the numbers tell the story.

In October 2025, Chowdeck announced that it had now hit a one-million-order mark in a month, a record for the Nigerian-born startup that began operations in 2021. That milestone places it firmly among the top two food delivery platforms in the country, second only to Glovo.

According to Techpoint Africa, Chowdeck’s daily order volume now averages more than 40,000 deliveries, up from roughly 30,000 earlier this year. The company’s footprint has expanded rapidly to 11 Nigerian cities, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Benin, and Enugu. It currently boasts over 1.5 million users and a rider network exceeding 20,000, a scale that reflects just how fast the brand has grown and how the food delivery business in Nigeria is thriving.

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Behind those numbers is a clear playbook: speed, localisation, and customer care. Chowdeck’s model thrives on fast dispatch times, user-friendly tracking, and a local team that understands the realities of Nigerian delivery, the traffic, the rain, and the chaos of small roads. Its in-app experience also feels lighter and more intuitive, with real-time updates that users say give them more control.

But the race is far from over. Glovo still holds the lead, with over 6,000 restaurant partners, 2,400 riders, and vendor revenue exceeding ₦71 billion since its Nigerian debut in 2021. The Spanish-owned platform benefits from international capital, logistics infrastructure, and deep partnerships with global food brands.

However, Chowdeck’s rise signals something deeper. It shows that a homegrown tech company can scale at the same pace as its foreign rivals and, in some areas, outperform them. In Lagos, where Glovo once dominated, Chowdeck has become a real alternative, with riders visibly matching Glovo’s yellow bags on busy roads. Users also point to its faster customer service response time and its growing reach beyond major cities, something Glovo is still catching up on.

Food delivery in Nigeria is now a serious business. It mirrors how digital convenience is reshaping daily life, from transport and shopping to payments and logistics. In a country where urban stress, long work hours, and unpredictable traffic make food delivery feel like a necessity rather than a luxury, competition between players like Glovo and Chowdeck can only make the market better.

For now, Glovo sits at number one, but Chowdeck’s momentum is impossible to ignore. A million monthly deliveries is not just a number; it is a statement that Nigerian-built startups can compete, innovate, and dominate their own market. And with plans to expand into Ghana, Chowdeck seems ready to take its homegrown success to the next level.

Meiza Nigeria