Brazil’s booming $20 billion online food delivery sector has become the latest front in a high-stakes clash between local incumbent iFood and Chinese-backed newcomers Keeta and 99, according to reporting by the Financial Times. Both sides claim to have been targeted by covert actions aimed at stealing trade secrets, manipulating operations, and gaining unfair market advantages as competition intensifies. The dispute has prompted police investigations and raised concerns about the tactics used by international tech firms entering Latin America.
iFood, which dominates Brazil’s delivery market with an estimated 80 percent share, alleges that a “co-ordinated effort” began when Chinese competitors announced plans to enter the country. CEO Diego Barreto told the Financial Times that overseas consultancies approached employees via LinkedIn, offering hundreds of dollars for confidential information about iFood’s operations, including pricing strategies, revenue, and technology. Barreto said the company identified roughly 500 such approaches over the past year. “This is corporate espionage — theft of intellectual property developed here at iFood, in Brazil,” he said.
Meanwhile, Keeta, owned by Chinese delivery giant Meituan, denies involvement in such practices. CEO Tony Qiu told the Financial Times that his company upholds strict ethical and legal standards and has not received any formal complaints. Qiu suggested that Keeta may have been the victim of similar underhand activity, citing incidents in which individuals posing as employees visited restaurants, took photographs and videos of systems, and disrupted accounts, prompting police investigations.
The Financial Times noted that the fight for Brazil’s delivery market has drawn massive investment, with iFood committing roughly $3.3 billion over 12 months, while Keeta and 99 together pledged $1.5 billion to establish and expand their operations. Analysts see the contest as a proving ground for Chinese tech firms seeking to export their platforms into major emerging markets, testing both technological and regulatory environments. Maurício Morgado, a professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, told the Financial Times that the competition has been welcomed by some restaurants and delivery workers unhappy with iFood’s previous dominance, calling the subsidized offers from Keeta and 99 “very aggressive.”
Legal scrutiny has already followed. According to sealed court documents reviewed by the Financial Times, four former iFood employees were investigated for allegedly sharing company data. In one case, a former employee is suspected of downloading information on 4,900 restaurants and sending it to a private email address. Another ex-employee received a list of questions from a Chinese consultancy and participated in a virtual interview, allegedly with a Meituan executive, for payment of around $1,400. Police executed search-and-seizure warrants at the addresses of two individuals, and forensic examinations of devices are ongoing.
iFood’s parent company, Netherlands-listed Prosus, declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Meituan and Keeta stated they engage consultancies for market research in compliance with legal requirements and emphasized their commitment to ethical business practices. 99 also reiterated its policies against misconduct, insisting that its practices comply with regulations while enabling the company to gain visibility and challenge incumbent operators in Brazil.
Experts cited by the Financial Times warn that this battle highlights broader issues in global tech expansion, including the ethical and legal challenges of operating across borders, the potential for corporate espionage, and the strategic use of subsidized pricing to gain market share. Despite aggressive moves by Chinese entrants, Brazil’s local market has proven difficult to disrupt, with previous competitors like Uber Eats and 99Food withdrawing in recent years.
The confrontation between iFood and Chinese-backed rivals underscores both the opportunities and risks of Latin America’s expanding digital economy. It also raises questions about how governments and regulators will respond to foreign investment combined with aggressive corporate tactics, particularly when allegations of espionage and misuse of data emerge. As the Financial Times reports, the market remains dynamic and fiercely contested, with companies deploying both innovation and legal measures to secure dominance in one of the world’s most lucrative online food delivery sectors.
