GrabFood now on soft launch in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Users of ride-hailing service Grab can now have food delivered to them as the company puts their food delivery service, GrabFood on soft launch this week.

The service initially launched in the company’s home country, Singapore, in late May, where it also announced future availability in other Southeast Asian territories – Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines. The app takes the place of Uber Eats, the food delivery service of former regional rival Uber, which it acquired in March of this year. 

In the Philippines, GrabFood will compete with the likes of Germany-headquartered Foodpanda and Honestbee, also from Singapore. 

For its soft launch, GrabFood says they will be delivering to areas in BGC, Makati, Ortigas, San Juan, and West Quezon City, with plans to expand to more areas in the future. Operating hours for the service are from 11 am to 9 pm except holidays. Payments are currently cash only. 

The service automatically makes suggestions for nearby restaurant partners from which to choose. Opening the service, the app showed a healthy selection of restaurants within a 2-kilometer radius, and a delivery rate of P49 with no minimum order. Grab says on their website that to “keep your food fresh and ensure speedy deliveries, we limit the available restaurants to those within a given distance from your location.”

Upon selection of “Food” in the Grab’s dropdown menu, the app will let you know if the service is available in your area or not. 

GrabFood follows the introduction of GrabAssistant, their service for miscellaneous errands. – Rappler.com