A former contractor of Hugo app has launched a new food delivery service to fill the void left by the company’s exit from Jamaica last month. Montego Bay-based entrepreneur Andre Brown launched his Orda JA food delivery service earlier this month with operations initially in Kingston and Montego Bay, but has already set sights on expanding service to other areas of the island.

Brown, a former contractor of Hugo, provides the service with 110 couriers with motorcycles across Montego Bay and Kingston. He believes his knowledge and experience working for the foreign outfit will ensure that Orda JA smoothly transitions into serving the market that has been left behind.

Brown points out that his expertise in the delivery business predates Hugo through his company, Sobestores.

“Sobestores is an online platform that allows small businesses to enter into e-commerce, accept local and international payments and thereby expand and diversify their markets,” he explained. “We have been providing all kinds of transportation and delivery services for our Sobestores clients including bearer services, special errands and product delivery.”

“When Hugo entered the Jamaican market in 2021 we were ideally suited to meet their needs which is why we were ultimately selected by them to initially provide riders for the Montego Bay region,” he continued.

Orda JA has recruited additional riders in Kingston who were working for Hugo, increasing its complement to 200. The organisational hub of the operation includes 10 staff comprising dispatchers, customer service and marketing agents, an operations manager and a commercial manager.

“The business is built around a fully automated service and website which allows us to keep our administrative and operational team small but efficient,” the businessman revealed.

According to Brown, Orda JA has managed to secure 98 per cent of the contracts which were held by Hugo and is in the process of bringing new merchants onboard.

“The rate at which new clients are joining us meant that we had to execute a scaled launch to ensure that we control quality as we expand into new areas and markets,” he explained.

Whereas Hugo was limited to serving Kingston, Portmore and Montego Bay, Orda JA has set its sights on doing business in additional parishes with Falmouth in Trelawny expected to be included in their network shortly.

“I believe that food-delivery operations that focus solely on the major urban areas are missing the mark,” Brown opined. “We have studied the market and found that there are multiple areas of opportunity throughout the country waiting and eager for a service like ours.”

However, over the next two to three years the founder of Orda JA plans to expand more than just markets. The plan is to actively diversify the services on offer as well. Pharmaceutical and supermarket merchants, for example, are already signed on to the service.

“My experience gained through the delivery component of Sobestores has convinced me of the demand for a service that can offer all facets of commercial delivery,” Brown insisted. “We will shortly be integrating the delivery of various additional non-food products and other forms of package deliveries directly to home and business addresses.”

“We also include a custom delivery service on our app,” he added. “Customers are given a variety of options which allow them to input how they want their package or product delivered.”

Naturally, an expanded menu of delivery services will bring all areas of vehicular logistics into play and Brown envisages the company moving beyond a focus on just motorcycles.

“Cars, vans and trucks and a variety of handling services will enter our service,” he said. “And we are already exploring the use of drones which are a gamechanger in the delivery industry.”

Orda JA’s promotional campaign so far has focused on social media to promote the app which is available on the App Store and Google Play.

“Advertising through mass media will come later,” the businessman said. “This is all part of the scaled approach that we are taking as we grow.”

According to Brown, 1,000 downloads have already taken place since the promotion began.