Ola on Wednesday denied the media reports that claimed that the company has dropped its food delivery vertical Foodpanda.

"We continue to invest in expanding our facilities and kitchens, as well as our portfolio of food offerings for customers. We remain committed to our mission of building a superior food experience for millions of our customers," said an Ola spokesperson.

Earlier, a Mint report said that cab aggregator Ola, the owner of Foodpanda, has suspended its food delivery business, laid off around 40 mid- to entry-level employees and ended the contracts of about 1,500 food delivery executives.

As per the report, the move came as the company is struggling to keep the business afloat amid stiff competition from Zomato, Swiggy and UberEats.

Sources quoted by the newspaper said that Foodpanda has been scaling down its business in the last few months.

The report added that in the last two weeks, Ola dissolved Foodpanda's ground team completely.

The idea is to focus on the cloud kitchen business that was launched after Foodpanda acquired Mumbai-based food-tech startup Holachef in October, a person familiar with the matter told Mint.

First Published:May 22, 2019 8:29 AM IST