Go to any restaurant in China around meal time and you’ll find blue, red and yellow-clad food delivery riders often outnumbering the diners. It is a trend that has benefited everyone who likes to eat at home, but is causing chaos on the roads and also creating major losses for the companies trying to make money delivering takeout foods.

Food delivery has become a cornerstone of city life in China over the last decade. The number of delivery businesses initially mushroomed and then faced off in an intense battle for market share that has left only a handful of significant players still standing, most notably Ele.me—controlled by online retail giant Alibaba—and Meituan Dianping, whose largest shareholder is Alibaba’s top rival, Tencent.

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