While living overseas, I have become quite familiar with the Glovo Delivery App to get relatively fast food on the fly while working as a digital nomad. Since this is not a common delivery app found in the United States, I wanted to share a little info about it and investigate it a little further myself.
Glovo operates in 23 countries worldwide in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, and South America. They started in Spain in 2015, and the name Glovo is a misspelling of the Spanish word Globo which means ballon. In 2020, Glovo sold off a majority portion of its Latin American operations to German-owned Delivery Hero.
Glovo is available for free in the Apple App Store or on Google Play for your iPhone or Android smartphone. Following installation, you can quickly order delivery food via the app for a relatively small delivery fee. Right now, delivery fees in Ukraine are 35 – 40 hryvnia ($1.31 – $1.50 at the time of writing).
Options in Odesa, Ukraine, at the time and location of writing included McDonald’s, Vlavashe, Chin Chin, and Lviv Croissants. So selections available were American fast food, Middle Eastern shawarma, Asian noodles, and croissant sandwiches, to name a few. Other popular local choices were pizza, sushi, Ukrainian and Georgian cuisine.
For those of you who are curious, the cost of a Big Mac in Ukraine is 65 UAH (Ukrainian Hryvnia). That is $2.44 at current exchange rates. According to the Economist Big Mac Index, the current price of a Big Mac in the United States is $5.65. So, according to the Big Mac Index:
“A Big Mac costs 65 hryvnias in Ukraine and US$5.65 in the United States. The implied exchange rate is 11.50. The difference between this and the actual exchange rate, 27.22, suggests the Ukrainian hryvnia is 57.7% undervalued.”
A hearty, huge veggie or falafel shawarma may run from 55 – 69 UAH ($2.06 – $2.59), while some of the Sushi sets I’ve seen on the app can run up to 1,500 UAH ($56.22). So, there is a wide range of choices, quality, and economic levels from which to chose.
Depending on the country, region, or market, KFC, Burger King, Carrefour, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Subway, and Taco Bell are all top restaurants on the Glovo App.
Most deliveries come via moped, bicycle, sometimes by car. Depending on location and demand, delivery times are usually between 25 to 45 minutes. Tipping is available in the app. You can add a tip to the total charge using your card, or you may tip your courier with cash. So both cash, Visa, or MasterCard work with the app.
