GrabAtlas: helping beloved local brands expand across borders

GrabAtlas: market entry with local insights

BaFang’s Southeast Asia entry was supported by GrabAtlas, Grab’s programme for popular F&B brands that are ready to grow beyond their home markets.

GrabAtlas advises brands on their expansion strategies. It starts with understanding the brand’s expansion ambition: Which markets is it targeting? Does it aim for a physical store opening, or launching a retail-ready product with local partners?

GrabAtlas then supports this market entry with tailored approaches. This includes helping brands’ identify the best store locations and price points using Grab’s insights; introductions to operational partners; and helping them reach more users via Grab’s marketing and social media channels. 

BaFang’s entry to Southeast Asia

In BaFang’s case, the brand wanted to explore a retail partnership as a lower-risk first-step expansion into Southeast Asia, before considering opening its own stores in the region in the coming years.

Based on these priorities, GrabAtlas connected BaFang with Grab’s Jaya Grocer team in Malaysia to discuss an easy entry point into a retail market. As a result of this collaboration, some of BaFang’s products under the Liang She Han range—beef soups with a range of flavour profiles—are now available in Malaysia for the first time, in a convenient, frozen form, through selected Jaya Grocer supermarkets and on GrabMart.

(Also read: Bringing GrabFood’s favorite flavours to grocery shelves with Jaya Grocer)

Different brands, different routes

Following BaFang, GrabAtlas is advising several other Taiwanese brands as they expand into the region. The programme also continues to support Southeast Asian brands who are ready to grow beyond their home countries.

Emily’s Chicken Noodles from Thailand is one example. The well-loved Thai comfort food brand is known for its signature shredded chicken noodles, or Mee Kai Cheek.

Targeting Singapore for its first international expansion, Emily’s connected with the GrabAtlas team for support. 

GrabAtlas’s location insights helped Emily’s choose the best store locations, recommending residential areas where there was strong demand density.

The insights and partnership opportunities offered by the GrabAtlas team led to the brand’s Singapore launch in July 2026, with a central kitchen in the Tampines neighborhood, and multiple pop-up locations to sell its beloved Mee Kai Cheek.