Just Eat feasts on takeaway orders. Can restaurants do without it?

Some of the clouds hanging over the app's shares were blown away by its latest update

Just Eat's orders are growing fast

So much for the cloud that’s hovered over Just Eat since the last set of results.

The takeaway food app shot to the top of the FTSE leaderboard after its latest trading statement showed it gobbling up revenue like a crowd of hungry teenagers in front of a table full of pizzas.

The business, run by Peter Plumb, has been under a bit of a cloud since telling shareholders it was going to do something unfashionable in Britain by spending money on investing in the business rather than handing it back to them.

To be fair, they had some grounds for discomfort over Mr Plumb’s £50m plans.

They were told some of the money would be spent on brand and expansion in newer markets such as Mexico, Spain and Italy, which is fine and dandy. The problem they had was with the proposal for the majority to go towards a Just Eat delivery service to compete with the likes of Deliveroo, Amazon, Uber Eats and co.

The company’s core business is in connecting customers with takeaway restaurants via its app. The restaurants handle the deliveries themselves.

In trying to take on that job for branded restaurants such as KFC, the company is a late entrant to a crowded field.

The point made by the trading update, however, is that Just Eat can wear any troubles that venture might cause while still keeping its investors fed.

In the first three months of this year orders were up by nearly a third and revenues by nearly half. That’s a full plate indeed.

Arguably the biggest threat to Just Eat is not a new business line that may or may not work, but whether its restaurant clients ever try to revolt over the steadily rising piece of their pie it has been taking.

The issue competition regulators need to keep a close eye on is whether restaurants even can, given how dominant Just Eat has become and evidenced by its obvious pricing power over them.

The company persuaded the Competition & Markets Authority to let it take over rival hungryhouse, its main direct competitor, arguing the overall sector would remain feisty without it.

The end customer is under no obligation to use Just Eat's app once they’ve used it to find their takeaway of choice, although the latter aren’t allowed to give you a cheaper deal through going direct under the terms of their Just Eat contracts.

Also, hungryhouse is a lot smaller than its former rival; it contributed a nice chunk of orders, but Just Eat was growing steadily on its own.

Mr Plumb would probably tell you that’s because his service is ultimately good for the market, delivering customers to takeaways that they might not otherwise get.

There’s something in that, and Just Eat sweetens the offer by negotiating discounts for its members.

Some business, however, worry that they are slowly becoming Just Eat providers; even, further down the road, franchises.

Whether they can now compete without the gorilla in the kitchen is an open question, and it’s a gorilla that’s getting bigger by the day.

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