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Tesco to trial deliveries by drone next month in Galway, Ireland

Tesco aims to begin drone deliveries in partnership with Manna Aero next month in Galway, Ireland. The company plans to deliver ‘small baskets’ for now. Tesco joins the ever-growing number of companies turning to drone deliveries, including Walmart.

Next month, Tesco hopes to introduce drone deliveries in a limited fashion to people living in Galway, Ireland. The food retailer shared the drones would allow customers to get groceries delivered within 30 minutes of placing an order.

To get the job done correctly, Tesco has partnered with Manna Aero, a drone delivery company that has been operating in Ireland for some time now and therefore doesn’t need to jump through as many regulatory hurdles. Manna Aero has previously partnered with Just Eat to bring food deliveries to the skies and even begun delivering medicine during the COVID pandemic.

Manna Aero’s delivery drones can deliver goods in just 3 minutes when flying at speeds over 50 miles per hour and if the delivery location is within a 1.2-mile radius. The drones also fly at an altitude of just 80 meters. For now, the drones will only be delivering small baskets with goods inside, but Tesco hopes to deliver large payloads in the future if the trial goes according to plan.

Dave Lewis, the chief executive of Tesco, said:

“They have already proven the capability, the question is how do we take that capability and apply it to Tesco and that’s the detail that’s been worked on now before we get to the trial.”

Claire Lorains, group innovation director at Tesco, followed with:

“We are interested to see how drones could be part of the solution to deliver to our customers on-demand small baskets. If our trial with Manna is successful, we believe there is an opportunity to reach many customers through our stores, extending via our drone service.”

You can learn more about the work Manna Aero is doing in the drone delivery space below:

Photo: Manna Aero

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Avatar for Joshua Spires Joshua Spires

Josh started in the drone community in 2012 with a drone news Twitter account. Over the years Josh has gained mass exposure from his aerial photography work and spends his days writing drone content for DroneDJ as well as pursuing his business.