GRAB PHILIPPINES (MyTaxi.PH, Inc.) said it has seen robust growth for its food delivery service, Grab Food, in the last six months.
“GrabFood Philippines, compared to GrabFood in other markets, is growing (at) a very nice (rate)… It’s not profitable… (but) we’re growing in a way that it’s sustainable for the company,” Grab Philippines President Brian P. Cu told reporters last week.
In the Philippines, Grab noted the food delivery service now contributes 10% to 12% of total revenues. GrabFood was launched in November.
“We’re growing at a very decent 3-6% week on week. So we are tapping the market. We are expanding by adding more food partners, by making the app easier to navigate,” Mr. Cu added.
While Grab continues to develop its transportation services, Mr. Cu said there are challenges to introducing these in the Philippines.
One of these is the Trip Planner feature that Grab currently has in Singapore and Indonesia, which allows a user to book a multi-modal trip through the Grab app. Mr. Cu said this could not be launched in the Philippines yet because it would require the different transport modes to have a working global positioning system (GPS) and automated fare collection system.
“That’s why we’re moving outside of transport… Food is a very big growth driver for us. Since the start of the year, we’ve grown maybe 3 time already. Only by a low base, but it’s significant growth that we’re seeing,” he said, noting the opportunity is big for GrabFood in Metro Manila.
Mr. Cu said Grab Philippines is targeting to double the number of daily orders through GrabFood by yearend. It plans to add Grab’s in-app mobile wallet GrabPay as a payment option for GrabFood orders.
“GrabPay will be available as a payment channel of Food, which means drivers don’t have to carry a working capital. Ngayon si driver nag-carry ng [Right now drivers carry a] working capital, so that limits how big of an order size we can get,” he said. — Denise A. Valdez
