Platform economies, food delivery workers, and urban consumption behavior.
In August 2024, two feature films about the food delivery industry premiered. Coinciding with their release, Hangzhou witnessed two sudden incidents involving delivery riders: in August, a confrontation between a rider and a security guard sparked a collective protest by nearby couriers; in September, a top-performing rider known as a…
Is the future where artificial intelligence replaces humans still a long way off? Some have already begun to worry about having their jobs snatched from under them. Meanwhile, the widespread deployment of algorithms in sectors such as food delivery and retail has already transformed the way ordinary people eat. Yet…
What shocks me about this man’s suffering is that it was unnecessary. — Bertolt Brecht The film *Against the Flow*, which centres on food-delivery riders, has been in cinemas for over a week. Few films provoke such widespread and heated debate before they even premiere. Two sharply opposing viewpoints have…
In this episode of Food Talk, we welcome Foodthink’s new colleague, Yuyang, as our special guest. He is not only a fresh addition to our team but also brings a unique background: he spent four months in 2021 working briefly as a food delivery rider. Though interested in the labour…
A Note from Foodthink With the Spring Festival drawing near, who wouldn’t want to save time and effort when putting together a grand feast for the New Year’s Eve dinner? Riding this wave of convenience, an array of pre-prepared meals have once again topped search trends across online shopping platforms.…
Foodthink Says While at the Harvest Celebration in Guangzhou, our editorial team will host a panel on pre-prepared meals and local produce at 10:30 on Sunday, 3 December. One of our guests, Doudou, is a kitchen enthusiast renowned for her homemade pre-prepared dishes. She shared her journey and a meticulous,…
When we talk about consumer rights, what exactly are we talking about? International consumer movements typically approach consumer rights from four key perspectives: the right to safety, the right to information, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. Today, Foodthink will take food consumption—something we all rely…
