When a Techpoint Africa investigation revealed in May that a fictitious restaurant could be set up and take live orders on both Glovo and Chowdeck without any real identity check, it laid bare a deeper crisis of trust in Nigeria's USD 1.1 B online food delivery industry, and triggered an urgent response from one of its biggest players.
The controversy, which followed a December 2025 complaint by a legitimate food brand that had been impersonated on Glovo, prompted Chowdeck to overhaul its vendor verification framework. Today, the company rolled out a three-tier "Vendor Badge" system designed to give customers clarity about who is actually preparing their food.
"We built Chowdeck on trust," founder Femi Aluko said in a statement. "A recent incident exposed a vulnerability in a system we created to support small businesses. It raised important questions about customer safety and how vendor verification works."
