There's a Facebook chatbot for North-East residents to order food with super-cheap delivery fees

People living in north-eastern Singapore would know of a few places where they can get good grub, but sometimes they crave for food that isn't available nearby. 

While there are always services like GrabFood or Deliveroo, pricey delivery surcharges and minimum order requirements are always a pain. Plus, sometimes you just want some uncomplicated local fare.

A new delivery service, however, has popped up, and it’s a service made specifically for folks living in the North-East.

Appropriately called Punggol Foodie, three things set it apart from the glut of other services available in the market.

You order via a friendly Facebook chatbot, and you’re not paying jacked-up prices for food and delivery fees. And the service is only available to residents living in Punggol, Sengkang, Hougang North, and Serangoon North.

A bummer for the rest of the island, but great news for those living within this boundary.

Started by Vince Ng, 36, on April 15, Punggol Foodie was built with the intention to offer better food choices and more affordable prices for those living in the North-East. Delivery charges are set at a maximum of $3.

“I always thought food delivery is quite pricey here, and there’s usually a minimum order requirement that is not easy to hit for singles and couples,” Ng told AsiaOne. 

A Punggol resident through and through, he wanted to bring in culinary favourites from outside the North-East area while also supporting food stalls all around Singapore during this period of enhanced social distancing measures. 

Currently, the service features the likes of Janggut Laksa, Rong Ma The Curry Rice Stall, Syfia’ Satay, Hock Tai Noodle, Sabai Kakis, and more underrated eateries that proper foodies would be aware of. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/punggolfoodie/videos/288943338899739/[/embed]

Having worked for Grab and Uber with experience in food deliveries, Ng thought up a few ways to streamline the process to keep prices affordable and with minimal waiting time. For efficiency, his team consolidates orders and carries out bulk deliveries, splitting the delivery areas into different clusters for each driver or rider. 

The costs of maintaining an app won't have to be passed on to customers, too. Menu-browsing and ordering are done through Punggol Foodie’s dedicated Facebook Messenger chatbot. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/punggolfoodie/videos/231546224579760/[/embed]

Though building the chatbot involved a lot of trials and errors, the method has made things easier for the delivery team and the hawkers, Ng says. Hawkers are automatically notified when orders are received, and they can get the food ready before his delivery team picks them up. 

“It saves a lot of time taking manual orders, and processing payment, etc,” he noted, adding that the team is still helping to vet through payments made via PayNow and assisting users who need help with the system. 

While still in the nascent stage with 11 stalls onboard, Punggol Foodie could be expanded if it proves to be sustainable. 

“If the delivery business is sustainable, we can try to automate more parts of the operation, and cover more areas for deliveries!” Ng enthused.

ilyas@asiaone.com