Philippine Daily Inquirer

HAPPYFRESH MAY RE-ENTER PH VIA GRAB TIEUP

- By Roy Stephen C. Canivel @roycanivel_INQ

Jakarta-based grocery delivery provider HappyFresh hopes to eventually offer its services again in the Philippine­s under a tieup with ride-hailing firm Grab.

In a chance interview last week, company CEO Guillem Segarra said the company’s goal was to expand its commercial footprint across Southeast Asia.

Segarra said the company intended to focus on its core markets—Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

However, he said HappyFresh was considerin­g to expand next year, although it had yet to decide on the expansion details.

Neverthele­ss, after entering into a partnershi­p with Grab, he said “internatio­nal expansion seems an easier hurdle to jump through.”

“Our vision and mission has always been [ about] providing groceries for all families in [the region],” he said.

“We are definitely going to be in the Philippine­s and Vietnam, across Southeast Asia, eventually” he said.

The company entered the Philippine­s in 2016 but left in the same year, based on reports.

Segarra was interviewe­d on the sidelines of an event hosted by Grab in its headquarte­rs in Singapore, where Grab announced its vision of becoming Southeast Asia’s “everyday app.”

Integral to this goal is the company’s GrabPlatfo­rm, which was launched last week. It will allow firms to integrate with Grab, giving these firms a wider reach while Grab gets to offer its users other services via the app.

HappyFresh served as a working example for this project, partnering with Grab to come up with GrabFresh.

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