So you live in Changi and your stomach is itching for a nasi lemak from Boon Lay.
On a normal day, you’d have just dropped everything and drive all the way to Boon Lay because you live to eat.
Now, you can’t because food delivery services are only catered to eateries near your area, and you intend to stay home to fight the coronavirus.
But wait—actually, you can.
Because GrabFood is now doing islandwide delivery—even from eateries located as far as Mars.
GrabFood is Now Delivering Food That’s Not in Your Area
The first thought that comes to your mind should be this: How is that possible?
Well, with money, anything is possible.
According to the FAQs, the delivery time and fees would be reflected on “the distance travelled for each order”.
In other words, you pay more for this service.
And the fees can be…rather high.
I just tried ordering something from Orchard to Woodlands, and the delivery fee is at $19.40. And do note that I’ve met the minimum amount.
In addition, it’d take more than an hour for the food to arrive at my doorstep.
It’s unknown whether this system would still be available after the COVID-19 period, though.
Authorities Helping to Cover Some Cost of Delivery
Lest you’re not aware, some eateries have decided to shut down for a month instead of opting for food delivery services because for every $1 they earn, $0.30 could be the platform’s commission.
The authorities are helping to soften the impact by paying 5% of the commission; so if the platform’s commission is 30%, the authorities would pay 5% of the commission.
In addition, it was recently announced that the authorities would also be paying 20% of the delivery cost if an eatery is engaging a third-party delivery partner to deliver their food (i.e. not using food delivery platforms but marketing and sending their food themselves).
So yes, that is precisely the reason why food delivery isn’t disrupted at all, because when the Circuit Breaker was announced, I thought I’d have to have combat rations for a month.
Turns out it’s even easier to find a rider to deliver my food now.
