Komsan Chiyadis
GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand
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What Singapore and the rest of the region ate in 2023, according to Grab data
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December 22, 2023
What were the most popular food and grocery items in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam this year?
Grab is back with the latest edition of its Southeast Asia Food and Grocery Trends 2023 report—a snapshot of how this vast and diverse region ate and ordered food.
Trending treats beyond rice dishes
Rice remains a staple across the region. The orders of rice sold on GrabFood could have filled over 145,000 bathtubs.
Top orders across the region also show that consumers enjoy local cuisine as much as fast food. Burgers were a hit in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, but local food such as prata, nasi goreng, papaya salad, and roti canai were also favourites.
Drinks including coffee and tea topped the charts in Indonesia and Thailand. The amount of coffee sold on GrabFood could fill up nine Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Pizza cravings from Singapore to Vietnam
Meanwhile, people were looking up pizza often—over 2 million times to be exact. This is followed by Nasi Goreng that was searched almost a million times on GrabFood, mostly in Indonesia where fried rice is a classic breakfast dish.
Ice cream: the popular sweet snack across the region
Common household groceries such milk, eggs and bread were among top GrabMart orders in Malaysia and the Philippines.
Those in Singapore opted for healthier options with herbal tea, sweet potato and banana making their way to the top GrabMart orders.
From Singapore to Indonesia, the region is also indulging in sweet treats. The number of ice cream sold on GrabMart this year could be stacked up the equivalent height of 51 Mount Everests.
Popular food, delivered on time
Consumers in Southeast Asia have become accustomed to ordering their meals online thanks to the convenience of having food sent to their doorstep. They do this for the standard meals during the day—lunch, dinner, etc—but even more so to satisfy sudden cravings.
(Read more: How Southeast Asia ate in 2022)
Meanwhile, non-delivery options have also gained traction among consumers as Grab began to offer features such as dine-in deals and self-pickup. Dine-in deals were most often used to celebrate special occasions or for meals with family and friends.
Who relies on food delivery?
Most people were ordering from GrabFood during lunch but spent the most during tea time as they tend to order snacks in groups. Some 87 per cent of Southeast Asians surveyed said that they were likely to snack between 3 to 6pm. The most frequent users of delivery services were married white collar workers between 25 and 34 years old.
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Komsan Chiyadis
GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand
COVID-19 has dealt an unprecedented blow to the tourism industry, affecting the livelihoods of millions of workers. One of them was Komsan, an assistant chef in a luxury hotel based in the Srinakarin area.
As the number of tourists at the hotel plunged, he decided to sign up as a GrabFood delivery-partner to earn an alternative income. Soon after, the hotel ceased operations.
Komsan has viewed this change through an optimistic lens, calling it the perfect opportunity for him to embark on a fresh journey after his previous job. Aside from GrabFood deliveries, he now also picks up GrabExpress jobs. It can get tiring, having to shuttle between different locations, but Komsan finds it exciting. And mostly, he’s glad to get his income back on track.
