Burpple merchants join ComfortDelGro's food delivery platform

COMFORTDELGRO taxi drivers will now deliver food from restaurants listed on food-discovery app Burpple.

Burpple is partnering the mainboard-listed transport giant to offer more affordable delivery costs for merchants that are part of its subscription-based rewards programme, Burpple Beyond, both companies said in a joint statement on Friday.

Burpple will reach out to its 550 Beyond merchants to onboard them onto ComfortDelivery - ComfortDelGro's new food delivery platform set up last month to provide another source of income for its cabbies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Food and beverage (F&B) outlets can access its fleet of 10,000 taxis for their deliveries.

Beyond is a "premium dining membership" whereby consumers pay a monthly membership fee to redeem one-for-one deals at 550 curated restaurants, cafes and bars in Singapore.

Beyond members will be able to continue accessing these deals - now with the delivery option - with the merchants that sign up with ComfortDelivery.

Burpple will include delivery links on the merchants' pages, once they register with ComfortDelivery, so that customers can order their food directly via the Burpple app.

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Typically, fees charged by food delivery players in Singapore range from 25 per cent to 35 per cent per order, according to the companies' joint statement.

With ComfortDelivery, the businesses are charged a distance-based rate starting from S$5.20 after a 20 per cent subsidy from Enterprise Singapore (this subsidy ends on June 30, 2020).

For two drop-offs in a single booking, F&B outlets can book a ComfortDelGro taxi at a discounted rate starting at S$6.80 after a 20 per cent subsidy from Enterprise Singapore.

All fees go directly to the taxi drivers' pockets.

Burpple chief executive (CEO), Dixon Chan, said that a "competitive" delivery rate will allow F&B businesses to "stay focused on their product and customer satisfaction".

"Concurrently, we hope this will drive up demand for delivery orders for taxi drivers as an alternative stream of income," Mr Chan added.

ComfortDelGro Taxi CEO Ang Wei Neng said the company is always on the lookout for more F&B outlets to come on board its new platform, to generate more delivery jobs for its cabbies and lower the food delivery cost for businesses.

Mr Ang reiterated that it is ComfortDelGro Taxi's priority to look after its drivers, and that the pandemic has "significantly" affected their livelihoods.

Taxi drivers are allowed to continue carrying out delivery jobs until the end of September.

Shares of ComfortDelGro closed at S$1.44 on Friday, down S$0.06 or 4 per cent.