GrabFood, an online food delivery platform, continues to be optimistic about the future of the food delivery system even if more people are now eating out as the government has eased COVID-19 restrictions.

At a panel discussion held in celebration of Filipino Food Month, Greg Camacho, director for deliveries, Grab Philippines, said transactions grew by 1.7 times over the period of 2019- 2022.

Camacho also noted that in 2022, the average basket size on GrabFood and GrabMart, grew by 84% as opposed to the figures for 2019.

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The post-pandemic era is ushering in a shift in consumer behavior. According to a regional Grab study, 9 out of 10 consumers now prefer brands with an integrated online-to-offline experience, “which is a clear indication of the clamor for digital convenience as people dine in-store.”

The pandemic prevented people from going out, which saw the growth in food delivery services. Today, as per Grab figures, 8 in 10 merchants say that delivery platforms are a must-have for their businesses to survive.

“MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprises) are the lifeblood of our business at Grab,” Camacho said. “We at Grab are proud to be partners with them and we continue to come up with new solutions that would benefit them and the consumers as well. It is important to support MSMEs because it means we grow, too.”

Camacho noted that data that merchants monitor on the app allow them to design their own business strategies. 

“Knowing data is a powerful help to drive their strategy for growth,” he said.

GrabFood also said noted that the trends seen on the app saw changes in consumer behavior. However, Filipino food remains at top of the consumers’ choices. Halo-Halo was ordered close to 80% more in 2022 compared to the previous year, ranking 10th in the list of top orders on GrabFood. Longganisa ranks 2nd in the list of top food items ordered for Breakfast (5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.) and Chicken Inasal ranks 2nd in the list of top food items ordered for Lunch (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.)