airasia Food - democratising food delivery

The photo below posted by @tonyfernandes late last week sparked a flurry of conversations online and put the spotlight on airasia food, the food delivery business of the airasia.com Asean super app.

Yes, and if you’re still wondering, airasia.com is also part of the booming food delivery industry across the region, marking its presence starting in Malaysia. 

So, what exactly is airasia food and how did an airline, or now a digital lifestyle company, start a food delivery service during the Covid-19 pandemic? 

Connecting people through food delivery

Sabrina Khaw, Head of airasia food shares more about how it all began: “Our initial efforts started in March 2020, when AirAsia grounded flights due to the Movement Control Order in Malaysia. Many cabin crew from the airline business joined forces to support local businesses through a food delivery service underpinned by Teleport, AirAsia’s logistics venture under its digital arm. In a short span of three months, we served 500 restaurants all around the Klang Valley and have so far delivered close to 15,000 orders.”

“During the period we also realised that food delivery platforms were charging exorbitant commission rates averaging between 20% and 35%, with very little control given to the merchants over their own store when it comes to food deliveries. Realising this, we mobilised our logistics infrastructure and technology to introduce a seamless, fuss-free and affordable solution for customers and restaurateurs. airasia food runs on a zero-commission model, where merchants are able to choose from flat-rate plans powering payment and delivery, having full visibility on what they are paying for. Merchants can also easily control their menu,prices and receive extended delivery coverage of up to 60 kilometres as compared to 15 kilometres coverage by other food ordering platforms. ”

Making things work better for local food merchants with the airasia ecosystem

Officially started in May 2020, airasia food has helped many local food merchants to expand their food delivery services. As one of the businesses under the airasia.com Asean super app, airasia food is supported by airasia.com's ecosystem of over 60 million users who are able to earn, and pay with, their BIG Points.  

Sabrina said: "Setting up airasia food was a natural progression for us, as we had the right logistics infrastructure and ecosystem ready to support this. And given the effects of the ongoing pandemic, we felt that a zero-commission model will work best to ensure we help as many local businesses as possible. And having close to 800 merchants already onboard airasia food is a testament to the attractiveness and  effectiveness of our approach. 

“Furthermore, airasia food creates opportunities for many of the affected crew from our airline business to be Teleporters (Teleport delivery partners), helping them generate supplementary income in the midst of the travel downtime. We plan to expand across the country and the wider region eventually, so lookout for airasia food in your city soon. “

An example of a local F&B merchant who has benefited from airasia food is Soh.Ya & JoshiJosh, a dessert and catering merchant located in Ara Damansara, who recorded a growth in sales by 500 times in three months. 

THE BIG QUESTION : Is Tony really going to deliver food? 

The return of the CMCO (Conditional Movement Control Order) till early December 2020 in Malaysia became the ignition for a bigger boom for the food delivery business, especially in the Klang Valley area. airasia food witnessed a whopping 1,150% increase in order volumes within the Klang Valley during the previous airasia.com Super Sale in October 2020, which generated more than 500% increase in sales.

The growth of airasia food does not only help local food businesses, but also has a spillover effect in creating more job opportunities. To date, over 200 current and former Allstars (AirAsia employees) have enrolled to be Teleporters, earning an additional income while further expanding the delivery coverage for airasia food. 

“As food deliveries look set to be part and parcel of our everyday life, we are working on expanding our reach to the rest of Asean. We hope to be able to support more local food merchants and create more job opportunities across the region, enabling more merchants to revive our economy.  

“With regards to the chief of airasia Group, we are excited to have him as one of our Teleporters, delivering food to you for our upcoming Christmas campaign. He is in the process of obtaining his B2 motorbike license and will be making surprise food deliveries in person next month. Who knows, you might be the lucky customer to receive your food delivery by Tony,” added Sabrina.

F&B merchants who are interested to join the airasia food’s network may email food@airasia.com.