The war between delivery companies continues in Brazil. Less than a week after the superintendent-general of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) dismissed an investigation against 99Food due to a ban clause against Keeta, the agency's court reversed the decision and reopened the case.
The order, signed this Wednesday, July 1st, by the interim president of Cade, Diogo Thomson de Andrade, alleges, in order to reopen the case, that the restaurants were not heard in the process.
“The conduct under investigation consists of the alleged use of contractual clauses capable of restricting the hiring of restaurants by competing digital platforms. Restaurants, therefore, constitute one of the economic agents directly affected by the practices under investigation,” says Andrade, in the seven-page document, which NeoFeed had access to.
In its decision, 99Food states that it has established contracts with several chains and cites Burger King, Popeyes, Starbucks, Bacio di Latte, Madero, Jeronimo, Outback, Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, Habib's, Giraffas, and Coco Bambu.
However, according to Cade, no investigations were carried out at these establishments to better understand the workings of the exclusivity contracts established with the Chinese platform Didi.
"No official documents were found that sought information from these economic agents regarding the negotiations that preceded the signing of the contracts, the possible existence of financial incentives linked to the clauses under investigation, the manner of their implementation, or the effects produced on their contracting by competing platforms," states the oversight body.
In the ruling, the interim president also states that no investigations were carried out to identify whether these measures were widespread in other restaurants, which, in practice, would inhibit the possibility of more concretely assessing the effective scope of the conduct of which 99Food is accused.
On Friday, June 26, NeoFeed reported that the president of the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel), Paulo Solmucci, believed the decision would be reversed , as, in his view, the measure would stifle competition and make the market increasingly closed.
He even went so far as to say that if the decision wasn't reversed, the delivery sector in Brazil would turn into a duopoly, dominated by iFood and 99Food.
In a new interview with NeoFeed , Solmucci stated that the change in Cade's stance is positive. "I view the interim president's decision very optimistically, as it aims to guarantee a fully competitive market. The previous position was hasty. It means that Cade will now investigate the matter thoroughly. And there are reasons for that."
Now, the trend is that Abrasel will be accepted as an interested party in the process, in a request that had been ignored in last week's decision. "We brought this complaint and it needed to be investigated further. And we will still present more evidence."
And this is precisely an element considered by CADE (Brazil's antitrust agency), which is the expansion of the market for new companies. According to the agency, the Brazilian delivery market is experiencing a different moment than that observed in recent years.
Dominated by iFood, the sector gained two important players last year. In June 2025, 99Food returned to the market and is now present in around 90 cities. In October, it was Keeta's turn, from the Chinese company Meituan, which entered Brazil via the Baixada Santista region and currently operates in 11 municipalities.
Currently, the three companies compete together only in the city of São Paulo. In the coming days, still in July, 99Food will begin operating in Santos , which will be the second Brazilian municipality with all three competitors in the sector.
According to Abrasel, iFood currently holds a 60% market share in the city of São Paulo, 99Food 30%, and Keeta 10%, precisely because of the fierce competition.
“The Court’s decision underscores the urgency of analyzing the case. Ban clauses are dangerous instruments, targeting specific competitors, and with a clearly anti-competitive purpose. We remain confident that the authorities will dedicate due attention to the case to ensure a delivery market free of anti-competitive clauses for the benefit of the entire ecosystem,” says Danilo Mansano, vice president of Keeta.
In a statement, 99Food says that it "receives the decision from Cade calmly and remains available to collaborate in the process because we have confidence in the legality of our practices and in the objective of creating a more dynamic, competitive and balanced market for restaurants, delivery drivers and consumers after years of high concentration without development."
Contacted by NeoFeed , Cade informed that "the Court today approved the transfer of the investigation. Therefore, the decision to close the case issued by the General Superintendence will be submitted to the Court for analysis."
"Therefore, there is still no final decision on the merits of the investigation, which will continue its course within the Administrative Court of Cade," he added.
