Food delivery sector booms in a time of coronavirus

GrabFood riders in Yishun, on April 20, 2020. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Transport Correspondent

Updated

Published

Apr 26, 2020, 05:00 AM

Demand for food delivery services has increased by about 20 to 30 per cent since a ban on dining-in kicked in on April 7. Besides customers, new food and beverage operators and workers have also been flocking to the sector.

FOOD DELIVERY RIDERS

• GrabFood: Total fleet size unknown but it has recorded an 80 per cent increase in weekly applications to be delivery riders since last month.

• Deliveroo: On top of its 7,000 riders, it has also seen an 80 per cent increase in weekly applications to be riders since last month. It expects to field 2,000 new riders by the end of June.

• Foodpanda: A total of 9,000 riders; unspecified increase in sign-ups.

F&B OPERATORS

• GrabFood: More than 1,500 F&B operators added to its platform since January.

• Deliveroo: Has added 700 restaurants since January, with a further 200 expected this month.

• Foodpanda: More than 300 new hawker stalls added since January and a 200 per cent increase in new restaurants added this month compared with last month.

• WhyQ: Inquiries by hawkers to deliver food through the platform have increased by three-to fourfold since January.

• Oddle: Has added 150 new restaurants to its platform since January, and the number of transactions surged fivefold this month after the circuit breaker took effect.