Southeast Asia’s online food delivery to soar through 2025

Southeast Asia’s online food-delivery market is expected to treble in the next five years, reaching US$28 billion in transactions, according to a report released by Grab and Euromonitor International.

The growth is expected to be seen in emerging markets such as Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The regional online food delivery gross merchandise value (GMV) is estimated to grow from US$9 billion last year to US$28 billion in 2025.

“The pandemic has accelerated the shift in consumer behavior towards buying food and groceries online,” said Russell Cohen, group MD for Operations at Grab. “However, online grocery delivery penetration is extremely low in the region, at just over 1 percent here compared to 8 percent in China and 9 percent in the US.

“With infrastructure and connectivity improvements, we believe that the next wave of growth will come from smaller cities,” Cohen added.

By 2025, the region’s overall prepared meal sales is projected to reach US$170.5 billion, with online food delivery penetration increasing to 16.4 percent. This will be driven in part by a rising middle class and increasing smartphone adoption in Tier 2 cities.

Meanwhile, spending on online food delivery is expected to increase two times faster than foodservice spending in the next five years, with a compound annual growth rate of 24.4 percent.