Grab keen on expanding food delivery service to more cities

MANILA  -The local unit of ride-hailing giant Grab Holdings Inc. is looking to expand its food delivery service to more locations in the Philippines, as this business unit of the Singapore-based firm continues to enjoy growth postpandemic.

Greg Camacho, director for deliveries of Grab Philippines, said on the sidelines of the GrabFood Filipino Food Month Forum in Taguig that GrabFood became available in Cabanatuan City a few weeks ago.

It is also set to go live in Tagbilaran this year.

“So, Cabanatuan is very interesting. We found data points. It’s actually a strong market for deliveries and we have a couple of cities that we’re going to be launching in the coming months,” Camacho said.

“We have strong presence in the cities like Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo. But even on top of that, we are still trying to grow,” the Grab Philippines executive also said.

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Slower growth

With the waning of the health curbs due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, Camacho said their food delivery service is still enjoying growth, albeit at a slower pace.

“Obviously when the pandemic happened, we saw explosive growth because people were stuck at home and we had to do deliveries. What I have to say is growth has normalized but there is still growth,” he said.

From 2019 to 2022, Camacho said that GrabFood transactions increased by 1.7 times, indicating a 70-percent increase.

The Grab executive added that the average basket size—or the number of food items sold per transaction—has also increased by 84 percent in 2023 compared to that in 2019.

Asked whether they see growth continuing this year, Camacho responded in the affirmative, saying that food deliveries are here to stay and that they are trying to tap other customer segments.

“One of the things we’re doing, we’re trying to tap the dine-in market with self pick-ups, with scan-to-order. So, I think through that way, what we see is continued growth, through offering different touch points for our consumers,” he said.

Despite these opportunities for growth, Camacho said that the high-inflationary environment, as well as the rising costs of fuel post a challenge to their food delivery business.