Grab has just opened its first GrabKitchen in Singapore which houses 10 F&B brands under one roof. The kitchen not only serves the needs of GrabFood users around Hillview districts such as Cashew, Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak and Toh Tuck, but it is also a place for customers to dine-in.
Grab is calling these outlets cloud kitchens and it is essentially a centralised kitchen to fulfil the needs of the local area. One of the biggest advantage is that users can order from multiple GrabKitchen merchants in a single GrabFood order.
According to Dilip Roussenaly, the head of GrabFood Singapore, the first GrabKitchen in Singapore was opened in partnership with reputable merchant-partners that have chosen to expand with them. With this partnership, they aim to bridge cuisine demand and supply gaps, complement and expand the variety of food options at different price points in the area. Customers can opt for on-demand delivery, self-pickup or dine-in.
Based on customer surveys and insights obtained from the Grab app, Grab understands that Northwest Singaporean customers wanted more variety of healthy food, burgers and local food. In areas such as Bukit Batok, they found that a significant number of customers have searched for bubble tea, mala and soup but consumer demand was higher than merchant supply. Other high-demand cuisines in the area also include Japanese, Indian and Thai.
Some of the restaurants at the new outlet include Lady Boss by the founder of Thai Dynasty, Waboru by JR Group as well as Tiffin Walla by Co-Kitchens. It also covers popular hawker food, coveted FMCG and packaged food brands such as Heineken and Tiger beers as well as salted egg snacks by Irvins. Bubble tea chain, Playmade, is also operating on site.
The first GrabKitchen was first introduced in Indonesia back in 2018 as a solution to reduce waiting and travel times for both customers and driver-partners. In addition, it also becomes a platform for GrabFood merchants to grow their reach to a wider market, as it brings users closer to their favourite menu.
Grab currently has 50 cloud kitchens in 5 Southeast Asian countries and they are going to expand its network further in 2020. According to Grab, the cloud kitchen provides merchant partners to expand with low cost and risk, and with immediate access to Grab’s user base. Apart from providing a space for merchants to operate, GrabFood will also take care of the utilities management within the facility, as well as marketing support within the app to reduce barriers for merchants to set up new outlets.
Apart from GrabKitchen, Grab has also announced its merchant solution which provides end-to-end business support for F&B operators. Small businesses can experience a unified app that integrates services from Grab Financial Group and GrabAds. Not only GrabFood merchants can track their business performance but they can also maximise their growth through analytics, advertising and financial services.
Grab will introduce other new solutions that make it easier for F&B outlets to access its platform with minimal disruption to its current operations. For example, merchants with their own delivery fleet will soon be able to tap into Grab’s customer base and there will be a new self pick-up option which would allow users to order their meals through the app before they arrive at the food outlet.
