Coupang Eats starts food delivery service in Japan

Coupang Eats, a food delivery app operated by South Korea's No. 1 e-commerce platform Coupang Inc., launched its first overseas service in Japan.

According to the retail industry on Tuesday, Coupang Eats unveiled its food delivery app Rocket Now in Japan on January 14 and began a pilot service in Minato, Tokyo.

Coupang Eats established a local subsidiary, CP One Japan, and recruited riders.

In 2021, Coupang opened a local subsidiary Coupang Japan, and operated a quick delivery service for food and daily necessities in parts of Tokyo, but withdrew it after two years.

According to the JMA Consultants, the food delivery market in Japan will grow from $11 billion in 2019 to $2.1 billion. 

Uber Eats holds 70% of the Japanese food delivery market.

Baemin, South Korea's food delivery service app operated by Woowa Brothers Corp.,  entered the Japanese market twice, in 2014 and 2020. Both ended in withdrawal in a year.

Write to Hyun-jin Ra at raraland@hankyung.com