foodpanda set aside $35m for supporting communities: report

KARACHI: The company behind app for food delivery called foodpanda dedicated over $35 million to support communities, help Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) digitalise and train delivery riders across the region during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

The company in its first Social Impact Report, titled pandapurpose, highlighted initiatives the company has taken to contribute to socioeconomic and environmental sustainability in Asia.

The pandapurpose report for 2021 showcases how foodpanda helped riders, merchants and customers thrive through technology across its 12 operating markets, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.

One key highlight in the report was the introduction of new digital tools that helped MSMEs expand revenue streams, while training and upskilling for riders, and programmes.

Several local programs in Pakistan successfully increased the percentage of economic participation from women entrepreneurs through the HomeChef program, while overall women ridership also increased compared to previous years. A new area of social impact focus in 2021 was the introduction of more sustainability initiatives.

foodpanda is a strong advocate of building an inclusive platform. In 2021, foodpanda raised the level of economic participation from women across Asia, tripling the number of female riders in its fleet and financially empowering women MSME entrepreneurs on the platform through its HomeChef programme.

In Pakistan, female riders also joined its fleet while foodpanda created new opportunities for home-based small businesses — run mostly by women to be financially empowered. Around 1,500 women have already registered as HomeChefs so far.

Marking its tenth anniversary, this Social Impact Report reiterates foodpanda’s commitment to growing alongside its ecosystem of riders, merchants and customers across 12 markets in Asia. foodpanda will look to expand its social impact initiatives in 2022 and the years to come by, positively empowering local communities to live better lives, powered by technology. “At foodpanda, we have been driven by our values to keep improving our processes as we are aware that it leads to making millions of lives better. We will keep working hard to sustain the standards that we have set and build an inclusive platform for our community of merchants, riders, customers, and other stakeholders,” said Muntaqa Peracha, Chief Executive Officer, foodpanda Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022