Uber Eats has announced it will axe thousands of online-only brands in a move that could clear the rubble for Black-owned restaurants, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The company also said it plans to clamp down on restaurants listing multiple brands with the same menu to boost sales and will release new guidelines on Tuesday (April 4).

“(We had a) Wild West, anything goes kind of situation,” John Mullenholz, head of dark kitchens at Uber Eats.

Uber Eats said it plans to remove 5,000 online storefronts, covering about 13 per cent of virtual brands in North America. To stay, restaurants will have to offer different menus than the sub-brand it owns appearing on the app.

Moreover, the delivery app will also require online brands to list photos of five items unique to its menu. Additionally, it will take down virtual restaurants whose average ratings drop below 4.3 out of 5 stars — a higher precedent than for physical restaurants listed — according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, online-only brands quadrupled to more than 40,000 in 2022 compared to 10,000 in 2021. It accounted for eight per cent of all eateries on the app listed in the U.S. and Canada.

Cuts include 12 virtual brands selling identical breakfast burritos from a Colorado sports bar; 14 brands serving the same sandwiches from a New York City deli; and online-only options from a San Francisco-based Pakistani restaurant that copied its menu 20 times, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Grubhub and DoorDash Inc. unveiled similar guidelines last year as companies continue to introduce virtual brands to boost sales during slow periods at their parent restaurants.

Around 1,300 IHOP restaurants offer virtual brands, up from 500 during the initial test early last year, its president Jay Johns, told the Wall Street Journal.