Uber is using data from its rides service to monitor popular food destinations and is tracking popular food searches on the Uber Eats app to gauge what people are craving.
In South Africa, it has found that Soweto and other traditionally black townships have a reservoir of middle-class consumers who may move further afield and crave a taste of home.
"Now that we're in Soweto we want to take those experiences and expand them to other townships, and go even deeper into Soweto," Dave Kitley, Uber Eats' General Manager for South Africa, told Reuters.
"We're thinking a lot about migration ... When they move, their taste buds move with them."
That's something George Makume, the Soweto-raised owner of So Cafe, understands.
Three years ago, he opened his restaurant in the middle-class suburb of Roodepoort, 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Soweto, noticing a lack of traditional food options despite a growing number of black professionals moving to the area.
"People grew up with this kind of food, but it's difficult to find unless you travel 20 or 30 kilometres to Soweto," he said.
Among his best-sellers are skopo - sheep's head steam-cooked or grilled on an open fire - followed by "Mogodu Mondays" - a 2-for-1 special of spicy tripe and maize porridge.
Since partnering with Uber Eats, and more recently Mr D Food, Makume said his weekday sales have jumped 30%-40%.
Back at Badela's restaurant where evening prep is under way, he says there's plenty of business to go around.
"I'm not the only one in Soweto offering this kind of food. There are many places," he says. "So if I succeed, the guys selling amanqgina (pig trotters), namatwana (chicken feet) and skopo will say 'Yo! I can do it as well.'"
That's a potential boon for black communities, where unemployment typically outstrips the nationwide average of nearly 30%. ($1 = 14.7075 rand)
