Singapore – Food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda has launched its latest ‘Meal For One’ initiative, offering curated set menus designed for solo diners at lower prices.

With Meal For One, customers can now order single-person meals on the foodpanda app without a minimum order value and enjoy lower delivery fees, making it easier and more affordable to order food for one.

The feature is currently available in seven markets in Asia, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

With close to 20,000 restaurants offering Meal For One menu options, this initiative will be reinforced and rolled out across the region in the coming months.

Additionally, the order process has been streamlined for minimum fuss and maximum convenience. Customers can access the Meal For One menu through a dedicated category on the app homepage, ensuring they can quickly find their desired items.

Furthermore, they can easily customise their drinks and sides with simple add-ons, reducing choice paralysis and simplifying meal decisions.

Talking about this initiative, Luc Andreani, chief operating officer at foodpanda, said, “More people in Asia are moving to urban areas and living alone for work. Meal For One is perfect for these solo diners, allowing them to order exactly what they need, without a minimum delivery order value.”

“It also caters to their busy lifestyles via curated and affordable set menus, reducing choice overload often experienced when browsing on food delivery apps,” he added.

Singapore – Around 61.8% of platform workers enjoy platform work, but a staggering 81.4% of them agree that they should be treated with more respect, a survey by DPIA revealed.

The survey provides a deeper look into the platform workers’ motivations, intentions, and experiences doing platform work in Singapore.

Based on the data collected, people engaged in platform work come from a diverse background and are categorised into four groups: the opportunists, who use platform work to earn alongside their existing careers; the switchovers, who prefer platform work over their regular jobs; the hustlers, who perceive platform work as a means to secure their dreams; and the explorers, who are not very committed to their platform work and are still looking for something they truly enjoy.

But even with varying motivations and reasons, the majority of the workers actually see platform work as more than a means to an end, with 92.2% stating they are amenable to platform work and 61.8% enjoying the nature of platform work in and of itself.

Some of the key motivators for platform workers, as revealed through the survey, are the platform work being vital in their career (53%), the work flexibility it offers (52.3%), and it being an important source of supplementary and temporary income (35.9%).

However, despite the majority feeling fulfilled with platform work, the workers’s day-to-day operational challenges and lack of respect received from society are among their major pain points.

Around 60% of platform workers raise concerns about compulsory CPF contributions and 55.9% of work injury compensation. They also shared that the public attitude towards them tends to lack consideration, and their choice to engage in platform work is disregarded.

Platform workers noted the difficult treatment they receive from drunk and rowdy passengers, disrespect from family members, as well as inconsiderate consumers and merchants who make their working environment unnecessarily uncomfortable.

All these concerns reflect on the survey data, with 25% of platform workers feeling that they were not sufficiently respected in their line of work and 81.4% agreeing that they should be treated with more respect.

With these concerns raised in the survey, platform companies continue to be the go-to option for assistance for the majority of platform workers (72%) during disputes. However, 18.7% reported disagreements with platforms’ handling of issues.

Singapore – On-demand delivery platform Lalamove launches the ‘Make a Pawfect Move’ campaign to allow users in Asia and Latin America to help abandoned pets by donating their loyalty points.

Lalamove also partnered with SOSD, an animal shelter based in Singapore that rescues, rehabilitates, and finds new homes for stray dogs, granting them a renewed chance for a better life.

Through this new campaign, users can send their love to furry friends at SOSD by registering as members of Lalamove Rewards and accumulating LalaPoints. With a minimum of 1,250 LalaPoints, SDG5 will be donated to SOSD to provide two nourishing meals for a furry companion.

Lalamove’s ‘Make a Pawfect Move’ campaign is an extension of its ‘Deliver Care’ initiative. The campaign aims to better the lives of abandoned dogs through donations while also helping to support their shelter ‘paw-rents’ who pour their hearts into keeping the group running at SOSD.

Joining hands with pet lovers, Lalamove is encouraging everyone to join the cause and spread the word to paws-itively donate their LalaPoints to create a tail-wagging, paw-fect world for furry companions.

Alex Lin, managing director at Lalamove, said, “In recent years, the number of pet owners, particularly for dogs, in Singapore has surged from 70,000 in 2019 to 87,000 in 2022. This growing affection for pets signifies a shift in how people perceive their furry companions, treating them as beloved family members. We, like many Singaporeans, share this love. That’s why a ‘Pawfect Move’ is exciting, as it brings together our Lalamove users with a passion of ours to help pets in need. Lalamove consistently supports various aspects of pet life, including delivering essentials to our vast partner network of pet suppliers.”

“With the collective support of 57,207 active Singaporeans in our Lalamove Rewards Programme and our partnership with SOSD, we hope to raise awareness about animal welfare and create a positive impact in the lives of our beloved furry friends,” he added.

Meanwhile, Magdalene Eng, head of outreach and fundraising at SOSD, also commented, “Lalamove’s generous support will empower us with essential resources and supplies to enhance the living conditions and medical care for our rescued pets, ensuring they receive the highest level of care during their journey to adoption.”

Hong Kong To promote the growth of quick commerce in Hong Kong, delivery platform foodpanda has launched a 24/7 pandamart O2O concept store in the country, which is also its first O2O concept store in the Asia-Pacific region.

The said concept store specifically located at Sai Ying Pun district adopts an omnichannel retail strategy blended with online and offline channel integration.

The store contains a wide range of fresh and seasonal produced frozen foods and drinks. Moreover, customers can enjoy the “HOT PICKS” section which features the best-selling products every month to enhance their O2O shopping journey and brand experience.

In addition, customers can instantly place an order for desired products in the store using the foodpanda app and can pick up their order within 5-10 minutes.

Aside from Hong Kong, the concept store was also introduced in Singapore.

Ryan Lai, chief executive officer at foodpanda Hong Kong, said that they are looking forward for the positive impact of the concept store to support the growth of their wider ecosystem whilst enhancing the customer journey as it creates more immersive experiences for the customers.

“foodpanda has always been committed to supporting local brands, including the local agriculture community. We hope to leverage our influence to act as a bridge between consumers and local farms, thus promoting the importance and fostering the growth of local agriculture and aquaculture through the expansion of their retail channels,” Darren Luk, director of quick commerce at foodpanda, added.

This month, foodpanda has also launched ‘bekal by foodpanda’ in Malaysia with which users can now avail of halal food item deliveries.