Affordable Food Brand in Addis Ababa, Tapu, Joins beU

Tapu Foods, a popular brand in the capital that specializes in preparing and packaging local cuisine, has onboarded itself on the online food delivery platform beU Delivery. Customers looking to save a few bucks can now have the affordably priced meals delivered straight to their doors.

Tapu’s budget-friendly lunch boxes have gained popularity in recent years, especially as urban residents face rising living costs. With many meal options starting at just 105 birr, the brand frequently draws long queues at its 11 outlet stores across Addis Ababa.

Yemisrach Abera founded Tapu Foods seventeen years ago under an eponymous holding business that looked to bring traditional homemade recipes to a wider audience. What started off with a few select local holiday meals has now expanded to around 55 product lines, 44 cooks, and 11 outlet stores.

Beamlak Ashenafi, Marketing Director at Tapu Foods, notes that while the lunch boxes have been available for nearly three years, their popularity has surged only recently.

Urbanites dealing with double-digit inflation rates for nearly five years have taken a liking to the high-quality meals available at a fraction of restaurant prices.

“We had barely done any marketing,” Beamlak told Shega.

She adds that increased customer demand and growing delivery requests need a partner like beU.

Tapu’s in-house delivery services, dubbed Asbeza, continue to distribute some of the Company’s flagship products, like the Ambasha, Doro Wot, and a few other meals. However, the fast pace of the takeaway lunch boxes, which sell out right after lunch, requires an agile digital partner.

An hour before dawn, Tapu’s staff get to work preparing the meals, spicing them up, and packing them for distribution across the city.  Around 14 types of dishes that accommodate fasting and non-fasting alike are shipped to outlet stores located in major residential areas.

Somewhere between 700 and 1,000 lunch boxes are sold out daily, with customers beginning to arrive an hour before noon.

“We have been getting great feedback from customers,” Beamlak says.

Tapu’s meals have become intimately tied to rich flavors, unique tastes, and the traditional spirit of Ethiopian cuisine across its nearly two-decade stay and customer base of about half a million. Through the partnership with beU, which has established itself as one of the most reliable food delivery businesses in the capital, new markets are on the horizon. Currently, the lunchboxes are available from seven of Tapu’s branches for delivery fees calculated according to beU’s pricing.