Food delivery apps have revolutionised the way we dine in this age, offering us access to a plethora of culinary options instantly. Yet, lurking beneath the surface of this seemingly simple concept lies a practice that could potentially stir trouble. Yesterday (Wednesday, 1st May 2024), a Twitter user under the handle @/farahharith took to Twitter when she noticed a restaurant using different names with the same menu on the GrabFood app.
Pop Meals, the restaurant mentioned within said tweet, is a Malaysia based company focusing on providing an endless list of quick and fresh meals daily at affordable prices. However, despite its popularity, the crux of the issue here is that the brand has a total of 17 identities while selling identical menu, monopolising the first few scrolls of the app before people can find something new.
While it’s not uncommon for establishments to operate multiple branches or have different brands preparing food in a single kitchen, this issue carries a different weight as it may lead to confusion and potentially skewing ratings and reviews. As seen in the thread by Farah Harith, this issue has been raised by herself in 2023 and at the time Pop Meal only had about 3 to 4 aliases but the number tripled in recent months of 2024. On that note, the report she made to GrabFood led nowhere and no actions were taken by authority.
Upon the tweet gaining views, it stirred a mix of reactions from the public and it is known now that this has not only occurred within Selangor area but also in other states across Malaysia, generating genuine concern and annoyance among netizens. Many netizens voiced their frustration with ordering from the brand. Some claimed that the quality of their food has decreased over time due to the brand’s focus on quantity for that whole ‘quick meal’ ordeal.
Aside from that, a few netizens claimed that this could be a classic case of “Ghost Kitchen” where brands purposely duplicate themselves and create different brand names and appeals to increase the traffic of customers but do not physically exist. This practice not only deceives customers but also undermines the integrity and trustworthiness of food delivery platforms.
Thus, it is imperative that measures are taken to address such issue as consumers are reliant on apps GrabFood. What do you think?
Source: Twitter
