FoodPanda opens in Brunei

Online food delivery service FoodPanda has begun accepting orders from customers in Brunei.

The company yesterday announced it has expanded its service to the sultanate and has partnered with 20 restaurants, including KFC, Burger King, Kenny Rogers Roaster, Fish & Co, PappaRich and Swensens.

The service takes food delivery orders from customers via its website foodpanda.com.bn, hotline and mobile application. It also offers take-away and pre-order options.

The delivery service is currently limited to residents in Brunei-Muara.

"We are very happy to be here in Brunei. I think this service would add convenience and value to the residents here in Bandar Seri Begawan." said Claudio Abitante (pictured), the managing director of Foodpanda Brunei, in a press statement.

Established in 2012, the Berlin-based FoodPanda has presence in over 40 countries across four continents, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and Singapore.

FoodPanda is part of the Rocket Internet franchise of brands with other notable ventures such as Zalora, Lazada and Easy Taxi.

In celebrating its recent launch in the sultanate, the company said it has waived its delivery service fees and is handing out Foodpanda football gifts to its Bruneian customers for a 'limited period of time'.

"We are looking forward to our partnership with FoodPanda to leverage on their online experience in delivering more orders for us" Del Goh, vice president of KFC Brunei, was quoted as saying in the statement.

It was revealed in a previous report that FoodPanda would be partnering with TNT Brunei to carry out food delivery services in the country.

The service's establishment in Brunei is part of the company's expansion plan to Borneo this year. This comes after the company deployed its services in most of the main cities in West Malaysia last year.

In a previous interview, Abitante said that Brunei is a good market for an online food delivery service due to the population's love for food.

He added that Bruneians love to eat out, but at the same time they also enjoy staying at home to eat their meals with their family.

"I see a lot of orders from Pizza Hut, and Pastamania, but we want to deliver from all the restaurants in Brunei," he said.

He said that customers can expect the delivery time to be between 40 and 45 minutes per order as FoodPanda will need about 15 minutes to pick the food from the restaurant, and about 20 to 30 minutes to deliver the food depending on where the customer is. The managing director also revealed that the service is expected to expand to Kuala Belait and Tutong in the future.