The race is on for GrabFood and Honestbee – which won?

MANILA, Philippines — THERE is a saying that goes, “slow and steady wins the race,” but when it comes to food delivery apps, is faster always better? Perhaps, it’s all about achieving overall customer satisfaction?

One Saturday afternoon in the Philstar.com office, we tried to see how two delivery apps will fare in keeping our hungry tummies content.

Sifting through options

Given our location in Bonifacio Global City, we were pretty much spoiled for choice whether local dishes or international cuisines. We could easily take our pick: vegetable biryani, samosa, falafel, sushi, donuts, iced coffee—but this time around, what about something that’s sure to please everyone? So pasta and pizza it is.

The challenge began for Honestbee and GrabFood, two local food delivery apps.

Out of curiosity, we thought of ordering through them separately, just to see if there’s any difference.

Placing the orders

After deciding on the type of food, I had my colleague order through the Honestbee app and me through GrabFood.

Our initial consideration was the ease in finding restaurants, and we had to make sure that we were ordering from the same restaurant that’s in the same location. We also took notes of variety, and which of the apps offered the widest selection.

After confirming the order and location, GrabFood's rider promptly texted, “Oks po, copy.” And so the estimated 25- to 30-minute wait with GrabFood began.

Wanting to indulge, we looked up fancier restaurants on Honestbee that had what we were looking for. In the end, Prego Trattoria, located in SM Aura, seemed to be a good choice. Then we checked to see if GrabFood also delivers from there—it does. Pleased with the ease with which we searched for the restaurant on both delivery apps, we decided to proceed in ordering.

My officemate ordered a pasta dish, and I ordered a smoked salmon pizza. We placed our orders at the exact same time.

On top of the food price, Honestbee charged a P50-peso delivery fee; GrabFood charged P49. It was also easy to choose a payment option. In our case, we opted for Cash on Delivery on both.

Now we wait

We finalized our orders at 11:30 a.m., and in the succeeding steps, we finally noticed the difference in how GrabFood and Honestbee go about their service.

Honestbee informed its customer that the order has been placed and gave an estimate of the wait time. In our case, it was 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, GrabFood, just like its car/taxi hailing service, started looking for a rider who was yet to accept the order. It took me two tries under a minute.

Honestbee informed its customer that the order has been placed and gave an estimate of the wait time. In our case, it was 40 minutes. 

Afterward, I was instructed by GrabFood to confirm my order and location. After I did, the rider promptly confirmed with me through a message, “Oks po, copy,” and so the estimated 25- to 30-minute wait with GrabFood began.

My officemate received notifications from time to time regarding the status of our orders.

Honestbee kept him updated with the ETA as well as the current location of the driver on the map, just like with GrabFood, which has the same feel as its car/taxi-hailing service.

GrabFood adjusted its ETA from time to time, which we assumed meant the pizza to a bit longer to prepare, compared to the pasta dish. But I still had the impression that it would arrive at the same time as our order from Honestbee.

We continued to get updates for our orders on both apps, and with just a few minutes to 12noon, both drivers were informing us that they are already near our location.

And so we eagerly anticipated who would be able to get to our office first.

Ready to dig in

By just a few minutes after noon—and still within the additional 10-minute adjustment on its ETA, my order from GrabFood arrived. The box of smoked salmon pizza remained neatly packed and our driver was very polite and had change available for our cash payment.

We are pleased to report that everything was intact—nothing spilled or dented—but most importantly, it was the correct order and our food was still warm.

Just a couple of minutes after him came our Honestbee order, neatly packaged as well. Though as polite as the GrabFood rider, the only difference between the two is that this one was unprepared to give us our exact change.

After settling payments and receiving our receipts through e-mail, we then opened our packages. We are pleased to report that everything was intact—nothing spilled or dented—but most importantly, it was the correct order and our food was still warm.

Reaching the verdict

So would we order again? Of course! Both food delivery apps were true to the promise of giving us a very satisfying experience.

Both were easy to use and never crashed on us, both charged an affordable delivery fee, and we were able to order from a restaurant that’s not the usual fast food. And most of all, we received our orders on time thanks to the speedy and polite riders.

However, compared to HonestBee’s 300 restaurant partners, GrabFood has outdone itself having partnered with over 7,000 restaurants and merchants, offering an innumerable variety of local and international cuisins—from Filipino to Western, Asian, European and even Fusion.

Even Jolly Jeep can be delivered by GrabFood now for Makati residents and workers. They can order options from Bulalo and Pares Sa Esteban, Sisig Sa Rada, LechonKawali Sa Dela Rosa, Porkchop Sa Palanca Street, Liemposa Salcedo, and Breakfast and Brunch sa Bolaños, among others.

All in all, we say that GrabFood has really come out as the winner.

For more information on GrabFood, visit the website here, and download the Grab app for Android and iOS. — Gerald Dizon

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.