Corporate Ewa, a popular Lagos-based food brand, has raised concerns over what it described as unauthorised listings bearing its name and branding on the Glovo food delivery platform, saying it has never registered or operated on the app despite receiving repeated customer complaints linked to orders placed there.
For more than a year, customers repeatedly reached out to Corporate Ewa, with a similar complaint, ‘meals ordered through the Glovo app under the restaurant’s name were poor in quality, incorrect, or unsafe.’
The problem, according to the restaurant’s owner, was that Corporate Ewa had never been on Glovo.
The complaints, initially dismissed as confusion, gradually became too frequent to ignore. Customers who believed they had ordered from Corporate Ewa via Glovo began flooding the restaurant’s official Instagram page with negative feedback, blaming the brand for food it said it neither prepared nor delivered.
“I have never registered this business on Glovo. At first, we didn’t understand the severity. It was mentioned randomly by staff in 2023 when a few customers complained, but it wasn’t until this year, when the complaints escalated, that I decided to investigate myself,” the owner told BusinessDay.
According to the owner, that investigation revealed multiple listings on the Glovo app operating under Corporate Ewa’s name and branding. The listings, the owner said, used the restaurant’s images and identity and appeared to be actively receiving and fulfilling customer orders.
Alarmed, the owner said she contacted Glovo to report what she described as impersonation. However, Glovo allegedly responded at the time that the listing was legitimate and verified. With no immediate resolution, the issue lingered as customer complaints continued.
To better understand what customers were experiencing, the owner said she placed an order herself through Glovo. When the delivery arrived, she immediately knew the food did not originate from her business.
“The packaging alone made it clear. This could never have come from us,” she said.
She questioned the delivery rider, who reportedly told her that the food had been picked up from a location in Ojuelegba, with no specific restaurant name attached. According to the owner, the rider explained that the same pickup point was used for multiple restaurant names on the app.
Based on these findings, the owner said she documented the food, packaging, and delivery details and sought legal advice. Her lawyer formally wrote to Glovo in October, submitting evidence and requesting the removal of the alleged fake listings. She said no immediate response followed.
The owner claims she had earlier contacted Glovo in August to request that the listings be taken down. Despite assurances that the matter was being reviewed, she said the listings remained visible on the platform.
Corporate Ewa’s brand recognition, she said, worsened the impact of the alleged impersonation. “Our brand is popular. People trusted it. This fraudulent listing has over 1,000 reviews on Glovo, which means a lot of customers ordered food believing it was from us. Some reported food poisoning. Beyond reputational damage, our sales dropped significantly,” she said.
She stressed that she is not seeking compensation from Glovo but wants the alleged impersonation to stop. “I just want them to take down the fake restaurant and stop misleading customers. This is about safety and trust,” she said.
In messages seen by BusinessDay, Glovo later indicated that it had reviewed the complaint and taken down the listing.
However, the restaurant owner said that checks on the app showed the listings were still active, with her brand’s images and identity unchanged.
“I am deeply sorry to every customer who was affected. I will do everything within my power to ensure this ends and that Glovo takes responsibility,” she said.
The restaurant owner also advised Nigerians to exercise caution when ordering food online and to verify the authenticity of restaurants listed on delivery platforms. She urged customers to contact restaurants directly through their official social media pages or phone numbers when in doubt, rather than relying solely on app listings.
“People should be careful about where their food is coming from. If you receive food that looks unsafe or poorly prepared and it claims to be from us, please reach out to us directly. But understand this clearly: we are not on Glovo,” she said.
She also encouraged consumers to warn friends and family and to report suspected fraudulent listings through appropriate channels to help protect others from similar experiences.
Efforts by BusinessDay to obtain comments from Glovo’s country head proved abortive, as messages sent via Instagram and LinkedIn were not returned as of press time.
However, a source familiar with the matter told BusinessDay that Glovo is drafting an official press statement in response to the allegations and has promised to make it available once it is finalised.
The source also noted that conversations between both parties are ongoing.
For now, Corporate Ewa continues to distance itself from any Glovo listings bearing its name. “We have never been on Glovo, and we will never be on Glovo. Any food ordered under our name on that platform did not come from us,” the owner said.
The case highlights growing concerns around brand impersonation, consumer trust, and food safety on digital delivery platforms, especially as online food ordering becomes more widespread across Nigeria’s urban centres.