S'pore-based app offers on-demand islandwide delivery for over 500 popular local F&B brands

On June 19 this year, Phase 2 officially began and dine-ins resumed shortly after.

Despite this, many F&B businesses have continued to face fewer customers, slower sales and lower revenue compared to pre-Covid-19 days.

If you're one of those Singaporeans who want to support local eateries but prefer to stay home instead of dining out, this article is for you.

Support your favourite local food stalls with Marketplace@WhyQ

Launched during the Circuit Breaker period this year, Marketplace@WhyQ is a community project between Singapore's largest hawker food delivery app WhyQ and FairPrice Group.

While the WhyQ app has been delivering yummy hawker food to the nation for the last three-and-a-half years, Marketplace@WhyQ is specifically geared towards helping Singaporean F&B businesses digitalise and get onto the food delivery scene during this trying Covid-19 period.

There is a wide array of food options not just from hawker centres but coffee shops, food courts and even restaurants as well.

Users can now find 'Marketplace@WhyQ' in a separate section on the app or click here and choose from over 500 F&B brands to order from.

The app also has a click and collect function for users to pick up their food from nearby F&B outlets at a specific timing, so that one does not have to spend unnecessary time waiting for it.

Commission-free platform providing on-demand islandwide delivery

What makes Marketplace@WhyQ stand out from other food delivery platforms is its low cost for F&B partners, as well as on-demand islandwide delivery services for consumers.

While other apps have befuddled consumers and merchants alike with their tricky commissions rate, Marketplace@WhyQ doesn’t charge its operators any commission or on-boarding fees.

This is in stark contrast to the 30 per cent cut many other apps charge, which typically leads to a lower profit margin for food stall vendors and/or higher food prices for customers.

Marketplace@WhyQ also provides on-demand islandwide delivery services, giving them an edge over other delivery platforms.

Elaborating on the partnership with Marketplace@WhyQ, Seah Kian Peng, Group CEO of FairPrice Group explains:

"Our collaboration with Marketplace@WhyQ works on the tenet of providing the delivery platform at affordable cost to the vendors, who in turn pass on the savings to consumers in the form of absorbing delivery fees or giving discounts."

In fact, the app has recently introduced free delivery or a flat S$5 delivery fee for selected F&B operators (do note that this list of F&B operators will be refreshed on a monthly basis).

New users will also be able to get S$3 off their first two purchases on Marketplace@WhyQ with the promocode MARKET3OFF.

Here are some hawker stalls to look out for:

Wok In Burger

Wok in Burger is the sister brand of a three-generation Zi Char stall, Keng Eng Kee Seafood.

First conceived around three years ago, Wok in Burger's head chef, Wayne, had the idea of modernising traditional Zi Char cuisine so that it would be more "accepted" by the younger generation.

After much experimentation and exploration, Wok In Burger was opened in 2019 with the concept of having comfort Zi Char food flavours with wok-hei, locked in-between burger buns.

According to Wayne, customers should try their stall's Salted Egg Yolk Pork and Fish Skin Burger.

Botak Delicacy

The owner of porridge stall Botak Delicacy has been in the hawker business for over 15 years.

After spending a few months recovering from a heart attack, he decided to open a porridge stall as work would be less tedious compared to the mixed rice stall him and his wife had previously owned.

According to the stall owner, he would wake up at 3am everyday and reach his stall at around 4am to start preparing porridge for customers.

For him, the most satisfactory part about life as a hawker would be when customers come back to praise his food, making him feel that all his hard work is worth it.

At an affordable price of S$4, one can get up to six different ingredients in their mixed porridge, making for a hearty breakfast.

Address: Botak Delicacy, #01-65, The Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub

Shi Hui Yuan

In the 1960's, hor fun was an expensive dish that was served only in restaurants.

To create a version of Singapore hor fun that was both nutritious and affordable for the local community, Fong Pak Thim and his wife founded Shi Hui Yuan, a hawker stall selling hor fun, back in 1969.

Over the years, Shi Hui Yuan grew in popularity and recognition, and a new flagship store at Lau Pa Sat was even opened to reach out to both Singaporeans and tourists alike.

Shi Hui Yuan's hor fun is most famed for its collagen-rich gravy and nutrient-loaded herbal sauce that contains over 30 herbs such as Dang Shen, Yang Shen Xu and Luo Han Guo.

They have also won the Michelin Bib Gourmand Award for four consecutive years from 2016 to 2019.

Address:

• 159 Mei Chin Rd, #02-33, Singapore 140159
• 18 Raffles Quay, Singapore 048582 (Stall 18)
• Compass One, 1 Sengkang Square, Kopitiam, #04-11, Singapore 545089 (Stall 18)

This sponsored article by FairPrice Group and WhyQ made this writer thankful for the convenience provided by food delivery services.

Top image via Joshua Lee