Platform economies, food delivery workers, and urban consumption behavior.
From the 55-year-old “Order King” who died suddenly on his delivery scooter to a rider begging online, from Xu Zheng’s Against the Current to Singapore’s Platform Workers Bill — in 2024, delivery riders under algorithmic control became a shared focus of cinema, scholarship and legislation.
CoopCycle, the French delivery cooperative federation, comprises 67 bicycle delivery cooperatives. Riders are paid hourly, can refuse assignments and are not surveilled by algorithms; major decisions are voted on by all cooperatives on a “one person, one vote” basis.
From 1 January 2025, platform workers in Singapore—including those in food delivery, courier services, and ride-hailing—will receive more comprehensive social protections covering work injuries, retirement, healthcare, and housing. They will also be able to form “Platform Work Associations” to strengthen their collective bargaining power. This is the result of the…
Director Liu Taifeng of Another Hopeful Day: riders in debt on day one, programmers locked into appraisals, restaurants forced to inflate reviews – algorithms strap different social strata into the same chariot, and two years on, the industry is still worsening.
In August 2024, two feature films about the food delivery industry were released. Simultaneously, Hangzhou saw two sudden incidents involving delivery riders: in August, a clash between a rider and a security guard sparked collective protests among nearby riders; in September, a “top-tier” rider died suddenly on his e-bike, triggering…
Is a future where artificial intelligence replaces humans still far off? While some have already begun to fear for their livelihoods, the widespread adoption of algorithms in sectors such as food delivery and retail has already transformed the way ordinary people eat. But does new technology necessarily herald a progressive…
The suffering of this person shocks me, for it was unnecessary. — Bertolt Brecht The film *Upstream*, which focuses on food delivery riders, has been showing for over a week. Few films have sparked such widespread and intense debate prior to their release. Within these debates, two starkly opposing viewpoints…
Yuyang, who worked as an Ele.me dedicated-delivery rider during his summer holiday in 2021, describes how order dispatch, complaints, attendance and algorithmic control affected his daily routine.
Foodthink’s Take With the Lunar New Year approaching, who wouldn’t want to prepare a lavish New Year’s Eve feast with minimal time and effort? Riding this wave, various pre-prepared meals have once again trended across online shopping platforms—for just over a thousand yuan, you can bring home a full set…
Foodthink Says On Sunday, 3 December at 10:30, our editorial team, currently in Guangzhou for the Harvest Festival, will be hosting a discussion on pre-prepared meals and indigenous ingredients. One of our guests, Doudou, is a kitchen expert renowned for her home-made pre-prepared meals. She shared her journey and a…
