GrabFood to deliver hawker favourites to customers’ doorsteps using 5 new food-holding hubs

SINGAPORE — Time-poor customers can now order their favourite dishes from a variety of Singapore’s most popular hawkers using a new delivery service unveiled by GrabFood on Monday (Aug 26).

Meals from a curated list of 70 vendors will be delivered to the customer’s doorstep from five new “hawker hubs” set up by GrabFood — without the need for customers to queue up for hours at the stalls, the firm said in a media statement.

For their part, hawkers can now get more business without compromising their operations, it added. Previously, long queues during peak periods made it difficult for them to take part in Grab’s regular food delivery service.

Stalls taking part in the service include: A Noodle Story and Han Kee Fish Soup, both from Amoy Street Food Centre; Arcade Fish Soup from the Arcade at Raffles Place; Hong Heng Prawn Mee from Tiong Bahru Market; and Ji Ji Wanton Noodle from Hong Lim Food Complex.

HOW IT WORKS

The hawkers will prepare a fixed number of meals in advance at their stalls. The food is then sent to centralised pick-up points — the “hawker hubs” — where it will be kept in industrial food warmers at 70°C and above to ensure that the food remains safe for consumption.

After a customer places an order on the GrabFood mobile application, a delivery rider will go to the relevant hub to pick up the order and deliver it to the customer’s doorstep.

Since the orders are prepared in advance, once the food is sold out, it will no longer be available to order on the app.

The GrabFood Hawker Picks service is available for customers to order during two time slots in a day. The lunch service will be available from 11.30am to 2.15pm while the dinner service runs from 5.40pm to 8.45pm.

Customers may find the list of vendors under the “GrabFood Hawker Picks” section in the mobile app.

The five pick-up centres are in: Bedok, Commonwealth, River Valley, Sembawang and Serangoon.

TODAY understands that there are no plans to expand the number of centres to more locations in Singapore. GrabFood said that the service covers about half of Singapore’s residential and commercial areas — generally in the areas surrounding the five pick-up centres.

‘FRESHNESS GUARANTEED’

At a press briefing on Monday, Mr Dilip Roussenaly, head of GrabFood Singapore, noted that Grab has obtained the necessary certification — the ISO 22000:2018 certification — to operate its pick-up centres.

He added that all the equipment used in the centres meets industry standards for food preparation, including the food warmers, stainless steel work stations and food trays. Pest control measures have also been put in place to ensure that the space is kept clean and hygienic.

The thermostats of the food warmers are also calibrated once a month to ensure that the equipment is working optimally, he said.

All food is served to the customers within four hours of pick up from the hawker stall to ensure that the food remains fresh. Mr Roussenaly also noted that in their experience, food is usually delivered to customers within two hours of arriving at the pick-up centres.

CONSUMERS' CONCERNS

A frequent user of Grab’s food delivery service, Mr Timothy Heng, 22, said that while he thinks the idea of the centralised pick-up service is good, he is still concerned about whether the food will be fresh.

“I think this will work better for some food compared to others. For example, noodles could get clumpy and fried stuff can get soggy (if left out for a long time),” he said.

The National University of Singapore undergraduate said that the delivery fees will also determine whether he would use the service: “GrabFood is only worth it if you buy in bulk and split the bill. But if it’s for a single packet, which is usually for an individual person, then charging high delivery fees will be a large barrier for me to use the service,” he said.

A GrabFood spokesperson declined to disclose the fees, adding that these would vary depending on the particular order, location and other factors.

Lawyer Melissa Tham, 28, who has used the service during its introductory phase, said that her experience ordering from GrabFood’s Hawker Picks programme was largely enjoyable. However, the only downside was that because the food is prepared in advance, there is no option for customisation.

“My friends and I wish we could make certain requests for our orders. For example, some people want extra noodles, or they don’t want chilli or vinegar in their order,” she added.

Still, Ms Tham said that she would order from the service again as long as food and hygiene standards remain high.