Simplifying food discovery for every diet

Melody Chang, Product Marketing Leader, Deliveries

. July 24, 2025 . Regional

With Grab, you’re just a few taps away from thousands of food options at any time. But finding the right meal isn’t always straightforward.

6 in 10 Southeast Asians have at least one dietary preference or requirement.

According to a Grab-commissioned survey conducted earlier this year with the general population, 6 in 10 Southeast Asians have at least one dietary preference or requirement. These can range from following a halal diet or vegetarianism. We realised that this can make the process of choosing a meal more complex, especially when menus lack clear labels or recommendations miss the mark.

So we set out to make food discovery simpler, smarter, and more inclusive for everyone. Here’s how we’re making it happen:

How can I save my dietary preferences on the Grab app?

We know how tedious it can be to apply search filters each time you order. That’s why we’ve introduced a feature that lets you save your dietary preference or requirement directly in the Grab app. Whether you’re vegetarian, or follow a halal diet, your preferences will now guide every search, making sure you only see options that match your needs. Set your dietary preference here.

How do I filter my dietary preferences on the Grab app?

Once preferences are saved, the app automatically filters out irrelevant options. Halal users won’t have to scroll past non-halal dishes, and vegetarians won’t be inundated with meat-based options.

For those without fixed dietary needs, you can still make use of the filters to refine your search as needed for each meal, helping you to find exactly what you’re craving for.

Clear and accurate food labels

To make it easier for users to find food that matches their dietary needs, we’ve added clear dietary tags to menu listings and restaurant info pages.

Behind the scenes, we’ve combined off-the-shelf tools with our in-house AI solutions to simplify some of the tagging processes. Previously, much of the tagging had to be done manually.

For halal-certified merchants, for example, we use vision language models (AI that can process and understand visual content) to extract expiry dates from halal certificates, ensuring the tags remain accurate and up-to-date.

Tagging vegetarian food items has also come a long way. Using our custom-built AI models, we analyse merchant menus and dishes to identify vegetarian options. These models are trained on millions of food items and their attributes, enabling them to classify vegetarian dishes and merchants with greater precision.

We’re always looking for ways to make your experience better, and these updates are just the beginning. Whether you’re exploring new cuisines or sticking to your dietary essentials, we will continue to make food discovery more enjoyable and fuss-free for everyone.

Food and deliveries