MerryMart, Panda form dark grocery
‘Dark Grocery’ stores will generally be located in select hidden locations and are exclusively intended for online deliveries
Recently introduced were cloud kitchens, now stay at home families have “dark groceries.”
Consumers will soon have the convenience of buying basic necessities amid movement restrictions due to the pandemic by ordering their needs via the “dark grocery” concept which will have branches that will generally be invisible and will solely cater to online deliveries within a certain vicinity.
The first two “dark grocery” stores are set to operate in the cities of Makati and Manila this October 2020.
This development came after MerryMart Grocery Centers Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MerryMart Consumer Corp, yesterday signed an agreement with FoodPanda Philippines to operate and pioneer the “dark grocery” store concept in the Philippines with the aim of becoming the first 15-minute grocery delivery service in the country.
Fast riser
PandaMart is FoodPanda’s instant grocery delivery service which covers convenience grocery goods, personal care essentials and other fast moving consumer goods.
“This concept is a real game changer in the online grocery space, imagine being able to buy exactly what you need, when you need it, and for it to arrive at your doorstep in a very short span of time. We are glad to join forces with the global delivery platform FoodPanda to power this ‘dark grocery’ store concept as they are the leaders in the online food delivery space,” said MerryMart chairman Edgar “Injap” Sia II.
FoodPanda Philippines is operated by the Berlin-based Delivery Hero SE which operates in 51 countries all over the world.
“These ‘dark grocery’ stores will generally be located in select hidden locations and are exclusively intended for online deliveries, we see this initiative tocomplementthe expansion of the brick-and-mortar MerryMart branches which will serve both delivery and walk-in customers,” added Sia.
Relentless drive
“Our team and I will continue to be relentless and determined to nurture and exponentially grow both DoubleDragon and MerryMart in this new decade,” Sia added.