---
title: "Why Chopnownow shut down"
description: "ChopNowNow, a Lagos dark-kitchen food delivery brand founded by Olamide Olaleye, wound down its food-delivery operations around February 2024 after dropping its free-delivery offer caused disloyal customers to defect to rivals amid 19.5% food inflation and thin 30% margins; the founder pivoted the business into a grocery-delivery venture, ShopNowNow."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/chopnownow"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/chopnownow.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/chopnownow/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why Chopnownow shut down

ChopNowNow, a Lagos dark-kitchen food delivery brand founded by Olamide Olaleye, wound down its food-delivery operations around February 2024 after dropping its free-delivery offer caused disloyal customers to defect to rivals amid 19.5% food inflation and thin 30% margins; the founder pivoted the business into a grocery-delivery venture, ShopNowNow.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Chopnownow](/graveyard/chopnownow)

## Summary

Here lies ChopNowNow. Its Lagos dark kitchen grew fast on free delivery and a comedian's endorsement. But 19.5 percent food inflation and thirty-percent margins left no room, and the moment delivery stopped being free, customers took their appetite elsewhere. The founder now packs groceries as ShopNowNow.

ChopNowNow, a Lagos dark-kitchen food delivery brand founded by Olamide Olaleye, wound down its food-delivery operations around February 2024 after dropping its free-delivery offer caused disloyal customers to defect to rivals amid 19.5% food inflation and thin 30% margins; the founder pivoted the business into a grocery-delivery venture, ShopNowNow.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | RebrandedAbsorbed |
| Primary cause | BusinessModel |
| Stage at shutdown | Bootstrapped |
| Lifespan in days | 1492 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product attempted

A single-location dark kitchen in Lagos (Lekki/Victoria Island) delivering affordable meals, later adding dine-in seating and listing on Jumia Food, OFood and Glovo.

## What worked

Free delivery drove rapid growth (from 3 to 30 delivery motorcycles in three years); influencer marketing with comedian Mr Macaroni; named Glovo's 'Customer favourite food brand' in 2022; founder recouped his bootstrap investment.

## Early warning signs

Food inflation reached 19.5% by mid-2022, pushing customers to cook at home; thin 30% profit margins left no buffer for rising input costs.

## What happened

Unable to raise prices for price-sensitive customers, ChopNowNow cut costs and eventually removed free delivery; customers migrated to competitors offering discounts, forcing asset liquidation and the wind-down of the food-delivery business by February 2024, after which the founder pivoted to grocery delivery under ShopNowNow.

## Sources

- ["Free delivery brings disloyal customers," ChopNowNow founder muses as he pivots to grocery delivery](https://techcabal.com/2024/07/24/chopnownow-founder-muses-on-food-delivery/?ref=startupgraveyard.africa): TechCabal

## Related pages

- [Chopnownow alternatives](/chopnownow/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/graveyard/chopnownow)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)