Toronto's Ritual, an on-demand food pickup service, has expanded its international footprint by launching its mobile app in Germany, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. The app now reaches more than 50 cities and seven countries globally, the company said.

Customers can use the app to order food in advance, while also collecting rewards on the Ritual Rewards platform, the startup said.

After entering the U.S. in 2017, the company expanded its service overseas in January by launching in London and Sydney, Australia. 

“We have already done a thorough job of penetrating cities throughout North America,” Ray Reddy, co-founder and CEO of Ritual, told Mobile Payments Today via email. “The next logical step for expansion outside of North America was to test our proposition in new English (speaking) markets.”

When the company looks at potential markets it considers population density, strong restaurant culture and a food-focused culture, the firm said. By the end of 2019, Ritual plans to also be operating in Hamburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Melbourne.

In the U.S., the company will operate in 40 cities, including new markets in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Miami, Portland and San Diego. 

Ritual uses a social ordering feature called Piggyback to connect users to restaurants in markets across the globe, where they can pickup coffee, lunch or other items.