KRUSH Brands delivers to UAE locations described by what3words

What3words, the location technology company that enables people around the world to identify and share any precise location using just three words, is teaming up with Freedom Pizza, a KRUSH Brands company, for its first UAE-based food delivery partnership. This allows customers to have Freedom Pizza delivered to a specific 3 m square without the need for additional directions.

Street addresses across the UAE can be inaccurate: pins can drop in the centre of the buildings, leaving riders struggling to find the correct door or access point and searching through large areas. The what3words addresses are more accurate than postal addresses, the company said. It is also the first addressing system entirely optimised for voice, and available in over 45 languages.

The what3words model is based on a grid of 3 m squares mapped onto the globe. Each one has a unique what3words address, made of three words from the dictionary. KRUSH Brands riders can then deliver anywhere across Dubai with the right words. For example, the front door to Freedom Pizza's Downtown location can be found at '///flicked.host.officers'.

KRUSH Brands has introduced the technology across their portfolio of locally-born companies, including Wildflower Poke & More, Coco Yogo Vegan Kitchen, Salad Jar along with foodpreneur partners Jet Lagged Chef and Viking Bageri.

To find the what3words address for a specific location, KRUSH Brands customers can visit what3words.com or download the free what3words app, then select where they would like to receive their delivery, after which they will see its easy-to-remember what3words address. They can then log in to any of the KRUSH Brands websites or applications to add their precise what3words address to their profile.

KRUSH Brands has a database of over 350,000 customers, with 60% of all orders coming directly on the brand platforms built by their in-house tech team. At least 95% of the orders received will be for delivery which equates to about 10,000+ deliveries per week for the KRUSH Brands delivery team to fulfil. Integrating what3words with their existing addressing system ensures speed, precision and reliability in a hyper-competitive market and allows KRUSH to maintain its 23 minutes average delivery time as demand increases.

KRUSH Brands Founder & CEO, Ian Ohan said: "We are super excited to partner with what3words to provide our customers with easy to use and more accurate and fast delivery. Whether you are at home, the beach, in the desert or one of the UAE's amazing parks, we will find you with what3words. We love its simplicity and believe it is the future of global addressing in the region and internationally. Good ideas matter and what3words is a great one.

"The benefit of what3words for food deliveries are clear. Providing three simple words in your online checkout means no more lost or cold pizza," added Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of what3words.

"We are really excited to partner with KRUSH Brands in Dubai to give customers a more accurate and seamless delivery experience anywhere, anytime".

Ramadhan offers in Singapore

Ramadhan tends to see a lot of food-related promotions in Singapore. Here's a selection:

Seen at the Geylang Serai Hari Raya Bazaar - buy S$25 worth of Mirinda drinks to get a free Mirinda jug, or buy S$25 worth of Yeo's drinks to get a free Yeo's jug.

Fanta invites consumers to "make Raya more special" by creating their own soda recipes with mixers, with lychee flavour as the latest. The recipes can be shared, but instructions will only be shared on radio at Warna 94.2FM.

Mr Bean has come up with takeaways from halal-certified suppliers. There are jelly delights, six for S$10, soybean biscuits (salted bean or pineapple flavours), eight for S$10.80, or grass jelly bowls (ala carte pricing).

McDonald's Singapore does not list its Ramadhan offers on its website. Its sunset and pre-dawn meals come with a free picnic mat, and the sunset meals include free dates. Sunset meals range between S$20.95 and S$49.95. For S$49.95, the sunset feast includes 1 Big Mac, 1 Quarter Pounder with cheese, 2 McSpicy burgers, 1 Filet-O-Fish, 1 McChicken, 1 Spicy Nuggets (20 pieces), four large French Fries, three banana pies, three hot fudge sundaes, three medium iced Milos, three medium Cokes, and six free dates. Plus the picnic mat. The pre-dawn meals range from S$17.95 to S$29.95. For S$29.95 enjoy a breakfast supreme, a sausage McMuffin with egg, one portion of hotcakes, a chicken muffin, three hash browns, two medium iced Milos and two medium cappuccinos. The meals can be pre-ordered. McDonald's delivers 24 hours a day. Terms & conditions apply; there is a surcharge for delivery and a minimum order amount, for example.

Hashtag: #sghalal

Quicker food deliveries through new foodpanda service in Singapore

Source: foodpanda website, showing a selection of supported outlets with halal food.

As part of its 3rd anniversary celebrations in Singapore this year, foodpanda Singapore has launched a premium delivery service with selected outlets covering the central business district. The new service comes a month after a recent funding round of US$110 million, and is part of the company's promise to optimise the user experience and improve customer service. 

Customers selecting the service receive their food within 60 minutes of placing their orders while paying up to 50% less in delivery charges. 

“Foodpanda understands the dynamics of a fast-paced working environment, where we see a rising trend of people opting for convenient solutions of having takeout meals while at work without compromising choice or quality. As the leading platform in offering the widest selection of deliverable food options, we strive to ease the lives of our customers by simply delivering the food you love to wherever you are,” explains Cassandra Ong, Marketing Director of foodpanda Singapore. 

“We constantly listen to the feedback of our customers as well as delivery riders. So besides welcoming additional restaurant partners to the foodpanda family to give our customers an even greater choice, we followed the call for shorter delivery time at a lower price tag. This is an initiative we have been working on since late last year and we are really excited to finally roll it out now as a gift to our treasured customers.”

Since foodpanda started in Singapore three years ago, it has signed up over 400 restaurants. Its latest additions include Burger King, Chicken Up*, Manhattan’s Fish Market, Nando’s, and Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks**.

On a global level, foodpanda, together with its affiliated brands, focuses on emerging markets, operating in 40 countries across five continents. The website and the mobile app are location-based. For some countries, it is possible to search by the 'halal' category. 

Foodpanda is active in over 580 cities around the world, operating in 12 of the largest 20 metropolises, and partnering with over 60,000 restaurants. The company operates under the foodpanda brand in Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and the Philippines. The hellofood brand operates in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Qatar. In India, foodpanda serves companies with both the foodpanda and Tastykhana brands.

*A search on Google reveals a Facebook post that the company does not use pork, lard and gets its meat from halal sources. However, the actual Facebook post was not found in recent timeline entries.
**Shihlin has on occasion displayed signs that say 'no pork, no lard, no beef' at its counters.