Online meal delivery firms knocked off course by coronavirus crisis By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Bikers of food courier service Deliveroo demonstrate as they called on clients to boycott the brand in Paris

By Anna Rzhevkina, Hilary Russ and Toby Sterling

GDYNIA/NEW YORK/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The lockdown of millions of people at home across the globe due to the coronavirus should have been the perfect recipe for success for the burgeoning online meal delivery market.

But some of the world’s largest players, including Uber (NYSE:) Eats and Just Eat, which is being bought by Takeaway.com, have been hit by a double whammy: restaurant suppliers have been ordered to shut and with more time at home to cook for themselves, some people appear to have lost their appetite for takeaway.

While many restaurants have switched to offering takeaway, giving the online services a bump in members signing up, some of the world’s biggest food chains using the apps, such as McDonald’s (N:) and Wagamama, have closed for the time…