The entrance to Boil in Brazil, which arrived with the promise of shaking up the duopoly of iFood e 99Food in the delivery market, it suffered a setback in recent days. The company decided to postpone the launch of its operation in Rio de Janeiro and, behind the scenes, fired a large part of the team that was set up in the city.
According to Boil200 employees were laid off. Sources interviewed by the report, who preferred not to be identified, state that only 36 remain, many of them today without a defined operational role while the company reviews its local strategy. The main areas affected would have been commercial and logistics.
With the postponement of the operation in the city, only professionals with leadership positions, with command of the English language and high performance would be left, according to these former employees.
Employees interviewed by Startups They say that employees were notified of the dismissal in meetings scheduled at two hotels in Rio. “Meetings were held in each hotel with around 60 people, spread across two to three rooms. I had already imagined that after the launch of the operation in Rio they would downsize the teams, but I never thought it would be like that, without any support. The way the dismissals were handled was inhumane, including a nine-month pregnant woman”, says a former employee.
In addition to the layoffs, employees of the Boil report cases of moral harassment by foreign leaders, with high pressure for results and abusive working hours, according to them.
“They had extremely abusive practices, with swearing, and there was no one to turn to. As far as I know, there was no Compliance department. If there was, we were not informed”, says a source interviewed by Startupswhich also reports a lack of transparency from the company regarding the results of the operation in São Paulo.
Continues after advertising
Also read:
According to some of those fired, the reasons for postponing the operation in Rio were linked to logistics problems, especially deliveries to communities. One of the problems reported is that in the contract with the Boil restaurants could not have their own delivery, which made operating in some regions of the city unfeasible.
Furthermore, the Boil operated solely with the Logistics Operators (OLs) model, in which delivery drivers are hired by these outsourced companies. According to a former employee, the model met with resistance among the city’s delivery drivers, who prefer contracts with greater flexibility.
Continues after advertising
“I believe there was a difficulty in finding delivery people with the profile that the Boil was looking for, and that the company realized that it would not be able to offer the fast delivery service, which is one of its differentiators”, says the professional.
Officially, the company says that the decision to suspend the debut — which was scheduled for March — is aligned with a greater focus on improving service standards for consumers, restaurants and delivery partners, and on dealing with “structural issues that inhibit healthy competition in the Brazilian delivery segment”, before continuing with geographic expansion.
“As a result of this, the company laid off the team located in Rio”, informed the Boilthrough a note, adding that “it will maintain all of its 1,200 existing jobs, focusing on the development of operations in the São Paulo region, and reaffirms its long-term commitment to Brazil and the investment of R$5.6 billion over 5 years”.
Continues after advertising
A Boilthe international arm of Chinese Meituanarrived in the country at the end of 2025, initially in cities on the coast of São Paulo and then expanding to Greater São Paulo, with promising numbers of downloads and restaurants joining the platform. But his attempt to replicate this model in Rio de Janeiro encountered obstacles.
According to the company, exclusivity clauses imposed by competitors, such as 99Food e iFoodgenerated a concentrated environment, making it difficult for the company to operate in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. On the occasion, Tony Qiu, president of International Operations at Boilwent so far as to say that the Brazilian delivery market is “dysfunctional”.
With a planned initial investment of R$400 million in its operation in Rio de Janeiro, the Boil claims that it already had around 17 thousand restaurants interested in operating on the platform. According to the executive, however, of the 800 restaurant chains with a five-star rating, more than half have exclusive agreements with other apps in the country.
Continues after advertising
Read the full response from Boil:
Keeta decided to postpone the launch in Rio de Janeiro to focus on improving market service standards for consumers, restaurants and delivery partners, which includes resolving structural issues that inhibit healthy competition in the Brazilian delivery segment, before moving forward with geographic expansion in the country. As a result, the company laid off the team located in Rio.
Keeta will maintain all of its 1,200 existing jobs, focusing on the development of operations in the São Paulo region, and reaffirms its long-term commitment to Brazil and the investment of R$5.6 billion over 5 years. The company will continue to work with local partners, authorities and restaurants to defend an open, competitive and sustainable delivery market, promoting an environment that encourages innovation, fair competition and growth, to the benefit of consumers, restaurants and delivery partners.
Content produced by .
