Revolutionizing Food Delivery: Drones Take Flight in Finland’s Suburbs
In the heart of Finland’s often harsh climate, a groundbreaking collaboration is transforming the food delivery landscape. On a particularly rainy day following Helsinki’s annual Slush conference, Finnish entrepreneur Ville Leppälä provided an exclusive look into a pioneering partnership among Irish drone delivery company Manna, DoorDash-owned food delivery platform Wolt, and his own startup, Huuva.
Huuva’s Mission: Bringing Culinary Diversity to the Suburbs
Founded with the vision of delivering high-quality food to suburban areas, Huuva—meaning kitchen hood in Finnish—secured a seed round led by General Catalyst in 2022. While the company has expanded beyond its initial cloud kitchen model, its core operations remain deeply intertwined with advanced delivery technologies, now prominently featuring drones.
Drone Deliveries: A New Era for Espoo Residents
Customers ordering from Huuva’s Niittari location in Espoo, part of the Helsinki metropolitan area, are greeted with a novel notification from Wolt: If available, we’ll send your order with a drone. Leppälä identifies Espoo as an ideal setting for this innovative service.
Unlike the sprawling suburbs of the United States, European suburban areas like Espoo often lack the diverse dining options found in city centers. Huuva addresses this gap by offering popular dishes from partner restaurant brands, with drones ensuring faster delivery times.
Operational Excellence: From Dublin to Espoo
Building on Manna’s impressive record of over 50,000 deliveries in Dublin, the Finnish operations commenced swiftly upon obtaining the necessary permits. Following a pilot phase that began in February, drones have been fully operational for the past two months in Espoo. These drones launch from a shared pad with Wolt Market, a delivery-only grocery store.
For consumers, this integration means the ability to order a variety of cuisines from Huuva’s partners and supplement their meals with groceries. Each drone can carry approximately 4.4 pounds, and Manna has the capacity to dispatch two drones simultaneously, enhancing delivery efficiency.
Advantages of Drone Delivery: Speed and Sustainability
The introduction of drones offers unparalleled convenience and speed. Unlike traditional drivers, drones are immune to traffic congestion, ensuring timely deliveries even during peak hours. Leppälä emphasizes that this promptness is crucial for maintaining food freshness and also contributes to more sustainable unit economics for Huuva.
Huuva’s team estimates that conventional deliveries currently cost between €5-6 each (approximately $6-8), whereas drone deliveries could reduce this expense to around €1 ($1.16). This calculation does not account for additional costs Manna may incur while establishing its Finnish operations.
Weather Resilience: Drones Designed for Nordic Conditions
Transitioning from Ireland, Manna’s drones have been rigorously tested to withstand wind and rain, conditions prevalent in Finland. Snowfall is managed similarly, though icing presents unique challenges. In such cases, alternative delivery methods are employed, especially since chemical de-icing agents are unsuitable for food transportation.
Safety and Compliance: Prioritizing Customer Trust
Safety remains a top priority. Manna’s drones are equipped with durable, regulator-approved delivery bags. Batteries are routinely swapped to ensure full charges for each flight. Redundant systems are in place, with comprehensive preparedness for various incident scenarios, including the deployment of parachutes as a last resort.
While Manna maintains staff on the ground, Mission Control operates from Ireland. Operators there assess LiDAR maps, review flight plans, and designate precise delivery points near customers’ locations. If conditions are unfavorable, the order defaults to a traditional courier. Upon approval, the drone captures an image of the landing site for final human confirmation before lowering the package using biodegradable rope.
Scaling Up: Preparing for Increased Demand
The process has become routine for Manna’s local staff, who are now managing double-digit deliveries daily and are confidently preparing for their first operational winter in Finland. Huuva is poised to expand drone deliveries in Espoo, with aspirations to brand the regulator-sanctioned delivery bags with its logo.
The Future of Last-Mile Delivery: A Collaborative Effort
This partnership exemplifies the evolving landscape of last-mile delivery solutions. Wolt is already utilizing sidewalk robots from Coco and Starship in Finland, and its parent company, DoorDash, has developed its own delivery robot, Dot, which began operations in Arizona earlier this year.
Amid speculation that DoorDash may be developing its own drone delivery program, direct collaborations could prove advantageous for companies like Manna and Huuva. Huuva is considering expanding to another Espoo location where Wolt Market is not present, allowing for a launchpad situated close enough to the kitchen for direct handovers through a window.
Currently, Manna’s launchpad is a short distance away; delivery workers on e-scooters transport orders from the kitchen in heat bags to Manna’s operators. Under the supervision of maintenance lead Makar Nalimov, orders are weighed and balanced before being placed into specialized, regulator-approved bags.
This innovative collaboration between Huuva, Manna, and Wolt is setting a new standard for food delivery in Finland, combining technology and culinary diversity to meet the evolving needs of suburban residents.
