Deliveroo launches dine-in area at One-north, eyes expansion abroad

SINGAPORE — Food delivery giant Deliveroo has launched its largest dine-in space at Alice@Mediapolis, making Singapore its first stop ahead of its expansion into the dine-in market space in other countries.

The Deliveroo Food Market features 10 kitchens and a 40-seater space and offers customers a fully automated ordering experience.

A total of 11 food concepts from seven restaurant operators are available at the market. Customers can enjoy Vietnamese cuisine from NamNam, sandwiches from Delismith and Korean bites from Bonchon Chicken, among others.

The food market builds on the firm’s concept of Deliveroo Editions, which are central kitchens of selected food outlets that are meant for only delivery or takeaway orders. There are currently two Editions sites at Katong and Lavender, which has a small dine-in area.

Mr Siddharth Shanker, general manager of Deliveroo Singapore, said that the move into the dine-in market offers a “massive opportunity” for the firm.

“We have all these fantastic brands, we have these sites. And it’d be a shame not to be able to do more with that, he said at the launch on Tuesday (March 12).

“If you’re going to be investing in an asset, in this case the restaurant partners, you have to maximise the potential there.”

While emphasising that delivery will remain the core of Deliveroo’s business, Mr Shankar said that it will continue to invest in the dine-in market with an eye on potentially expanding to other countries.

Launching the concept in Singapore was an “obvious choice” because the country “lends itself to a lot of innovation” as customers here are “very willing to try different things”, he added.

“With the hawker culture here, or food courts, Singaporeans are constantly interacting with their food in such a manner. So it was very natural for us to build the space here.”

The decision to locate the food market in the One-north area was a strategic one as its data showed that the area had strong delivery numbers, said Mr Josh Nedeljkovic, regional manager of Deliveroo Editions, Asia Pacific.

With the number of office spaces and the National University of Singapore in the vicinity, he added that there was potential for even more growth.

“If we look at it from a catchment area, like what sort of area we cover and what sort of demographics there are, it’s very attractive,” he said.

“There was high spending power here, and we saw some specific gaps in terms of cuisines that we wanted to fill, said Mr Nedeljkovic.

QUICK CONVENIENCE FOR CUSTOMERS

The market’s automated ordering system is powered by San Francisco-based technology company Eatsa, and the Singapore food market will serve as a testbed for the firm’s development of the concept.

How it works:

• Customers first place their orders at the self-serve kiosks onsite

• Once the food is ready, it will be placed in one of 12 digital cubbies for pick-up

• Customers will receive a notification on a digital status board to pick up their food from the designated cubby and choose to dine in or take away the food

Technology will also boost the seven restaurants’ operations as a routing system will allow for the kitchens to be more efficient with their orders.

With dedicated kitchens for each restaurant, the site’s food operators told TODAY that they were looking forward to the new venture.

Potluck Club founder and owner Ravin Bajwa, 36, said that the dine-in feature was very appealing for the virtual restaurant’s two food concepts, Chop Shop and Delismith, which are exclusive to Deliveroo.

“It’s a very functional use of the space, especially for people who are in the neighbourhood and want to pop by for a bite. There’s a social aspect to eating that you can only get in a physical space,” he said.

“We don’t have physical brick-and-mortar sites, so this Deliveroo site was something we were very interested in exploring.”

Mr Nam Nguyen, founder and managing director of NamNam, said that the technology and automation used at the market would help reduce reliance on manpower, particularly as the eatery hires a number of Vietnamese staff to ensure authenticity.

“The Government is reducing the quota for foreign employees, so it’s a bit tougher to find the right people for the restaurant. But with automation, it takes the pressure off. Now we can reserve the space to find good Vietnamese chefs,” said the 47-year-old.

The Deliveroo Food Market is open to all customers for dine-in and takeaway from Wednesday.