Food Industry Opens 'Skyway' with Drone Delivery... but Numerous Challenges Remain, Including Payload Weight and Adverse Weather Conditions

[Financial News] Major domestic food and restaurant companies are ushering in an era of "ultra-high-speed aerial delivery" through commercial delivery services utilizing drones. However, concerns regarding safety accidents caused by aircraft crashes into urban areas and limitations on payload capacity are cited as challenges that need to be addressed.
According to the industry on the 14th, drone delivery has so far been limited to pilot projects in some remote island and mountainous areas due to regulations and technological limitations. However, thanks to the refinement of relevant laws and the advancement of autonomous flight and detection technologies, it is recently expanding its scope to areas with high foot traffic, such as social contribution projects, suburban areas near urban centers, and campsites.
Starting this month, Pulmuone has launched a social contribution project called "Fresh Food Drone Delivery to Islands and Mountainous Areas," which involves taking orders via the unmanned kiosk platform "Chulchul Box" and delivering fresh food to residents in food-vulnerable regions using drones.
This project establishes food supply chains in so-called "food deserts"—areas vulnerable to food supply shortages, such as mountainous regions and islands—and uses drones to deliver food in a fresh state to residents and tourists in those areas.
Pulmuone’s unmanned kiosk "Chulchul Box," which plays a pivotal role, is a platform-based, customized service that allows customers to conveniently access a variety of their preferred products at their desired location. It will be introduced for the first time in the island village of Daenanjido Island in collaboration with Dangjin City in South Chungcheong Province and the drone company NINANO COMPANY.
Pulmuone is pursuing measures to address the issue of food desertification in collaboration with Gimcheon City, North Gyeongsang Province. A Pulmuone official stated, "We will contribute to improving food accessibility for residents in food-vulnerable areas, such as islands and mountainous regions."
Competition in drone delivery within the franchise and retail industries is also intensifying. Kyochon Chicken became the first in the franchise industry to commercialize drone delivery. It introduced a service that rapidly delivers warm chicken immediately after cooking by connecting with delivery hubs in resort areas near urban centers, such as Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
Domino's Pizza is actively introducing drone delivery systems, including conducting pilot pizza delivery using drones centered in Daegu, Sejong Lake Park, and Jeju Province. In addition, convenience store chains such as GS25, CU Convenience Store (CU), and 7-Eleven are operating drone delivery services centered around campsites, waterfront parks, and island areas.
The biggest reasons the food industry is focusing on drones are "time reduction" and "logistics efficiency." Since they are unaffected by road traffic congestion, delivery times can be reduced exponentially, and they are considered a long-term solution to issues such as difficulties in recruiting riders and rising labor costs. In particular, the ability to expand the target audience to include outdoor customers near mountainous areas with inconvenient transportation is also a strength.
However, there are still numerous challenges that need to be addressed for full mass adoption. Areas requiring improvement include flight restrictions during inclement weather, concerns about safety accidents caused by aircraft falling into urban areas, and limitations on payload capacity.
"Drone delivery is moving beyond a mere one-off event and establishing itself as a core pillar of future distribution logistics," an industry official said. "Once technological stability and dedicated infrastructure are further expanded, it will soon become fully established as a daily delivery method."
[email protected] Kim Seo-yeon Reporter