Chowdeck, a food delivery startup, is restructuring its operations, resulting in the release of 86 contract staff. According to CEO Femi Aluko, the company’s operations team grew sixfold from 20 to 120 members between January 2024 and January 2025. However, this growth was deemed unsustainable given the startup’s growth projections for 2025.

To address this, Chowdeck has optimized its operations, reducing dependence on manual processes. These efforts have led to improved delivery times, with a team that once required 24 people now able to function efficiently with just two. Average delivery times have decreased from 41 minutes to 33 minutes.

The affected contract staff will receive a severance package, including three months of salary and health insurance. Chowdeck has also offered to assist them in transitioning to new roles outside the company. No full-time employees were impacted by this development.

Chowdeck’s optimized operations have enabled the company to accelerate its expansion. The startup has recently launched operations in Kaduna and Owerri and is preparing for a beta launch in Ghana.

With its improved operational efficiency, Chowdeck can now launch in new cities within a week, compared to the previous three-month timeline.