GrabFood, despite being a late comer to Vietnam’s food delivery market, has managed to leave its competitors in the country in the dust. It is now the most popular food delivery service in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, according a recent survey by Kantar TNS.

There’s good reason for that. A report by McKinsey & Company points out that the biggest challenge for food delivery firms is speed, because consumers want their meals to be at their door in under 60 minutes. GrabFood is able to utilise its dense network of driver-partners and use them as delivery agents. With more than 175,000 driver-partners in 15 Vietnamese cities and provinces, the company is able to transport food quickly. The average delivery time by GrabFood is approximately 20 minutes, making it the fastest service provider in the country, ahead of Now.vn’s 25 minutes and Lala’s half-hour averages.

Instead of offering discounts and promotional programs to attract customers, GrabFood capitalises on the diversity of Vietnamese cuisine and adapts to the local demands and tastes. From local delights made by mom and pop eateries, to chains and large restaurants, GrabFood delivers almost any meal that can be found in Vietnam. It even offers exclusive menus and food items that the company co-created with its merchants.

GrabFood also has a chatbox function (GrabChat) that allows customers to track the location of the driver who is delivering their food, as well as a function that automatically detects the user’s location and makes recommendations based on restaurants that are nearby.

With these features and using these strategies, GrabFood has pulled ahead of other players in Vietnam. A poll by market research company GCOMM involving 600 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City also revealed that 98% of respondents were satisfied with GrabFood’s service.

With an estimated value of US$33 million in 2018 and an average growth rate of 11% per year, the Vietnamese food delivery market is highly competitive—and harsh. Those who are unable to innovate and adapt quickly will be eliminated, like Foodpanda. In the country, GrabFood’s competitors include Lixi and Lala, both of which have said they’re experiencing slow business. There are also Foody.vn, Now by Foodie, Go-Food by Go-Jek subsidiary Go-Viet, as well as Vietnammm, which was recently acquired by Korean unicorn Woowa brothers.

Editor: Brady Ng