Grab launches second cloud kitchen in Singapore

GRAB has launched its second cloud kitchen in Singapore, marking its 56th GrabKitchen facility regionally, the ride-hailing and food delivery firm announced on Friday.

Located in Aljunied, the facility houses the food preparation facilities of over 15 F&B brands, including food chains Putien and Maki-san. The 2,971 sq ft space comprises eight kitchens and a small dine-in area.

Grab began setting up cloud kitchens regionally in 2018. The company said that such centralised food preparation facilities enable merchants to meet the rising demand for food delivery services in cost-effective ways.

Grab's move comes as the cloud kitchen market has been heating up over the past year. In June, local foodtech firm TiffinLabs, co-founded by RB Capital's RK Kishin, said that it has acquired access to 1,000 delivery-enabled kitchens across the US, Europe and Asia.

Other cloud kitchen operators in Singapore include food delivery rivals foodpanda and Deliveroo, as well as Smart City Kitchens, which is linked to ousted Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick.

Grab's first Singapore cloud kitchen in Hillview, launched in January this year, has had total orders more than double since launch, the company said. The proportion of mix-and-match orders across brands housed within the facility also increased, it added. The Hillview kitchen is now operating at full occupancy with over 20 brands.

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Some brands who are tenants at the Hillview kitchen are also joining the Aljunied one, such as bubble tea retailer PlayMade and Wolf Burgers.

Grab said that the choice of location and tenant mix for its latest cloud kitchen was data-driven. The Geylang-Aljunied area has one of the highest rates of unmet consumer demand among GrabFood users in Singapore. Demand for Japanese, Korean and Western cuisines, as well as bubble tea and fried chicken was "significantly higher" than supply from F&B merchants in this area.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made F&B players rethink their expansion plans, said Dilip Roussenaly, senior director of deliveries at Grab Singapore.

"With sustained consumer demand for food delivery orders, GrabKitchen Aljunied will enable our (merchants) to grow their footprint and (build) on new concepts while adapting to fast-changing consumers behaviours through our data-first approach," he said.

Fong Chak Ka, vice-president of Putien, said: "Even as more consumers are returning to our stores, demand for our menu during weekday meal times still remains high. We believe this is a trend that will continue to stay for a long time, so we need to also try new ways of serving our consumers."

This is the restaurant chain's first time pursuing expansion "with the sole aim of reaching more consumers through food delivery".