KOTA KINABALU – AirAsia Group Bhd launched its application’s food delivery and groceries shopping services, airasia food and airasia fresh, here today.
Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun voiced his belief during the launch saying that the app will be able to help local restaurants and farmers through e-commerce, especially given that Kota Kinabalu has reached 91.4% internet penetration rate.
“We are excited that AirAsia has chosen Kota Kinabalu as the first hub in East Malaysia for this e-commerce product. The post-pandemic situation has changed our lives; we prefer to stay at home – and airasia food and airasia fresh fit perfectly into our changing lifestyle.
“I am also sure that farmers from my constituency (Ranau) will be the biggest beneficiary from this platform,” he said.
The group’s CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the expansion of the e-commerce lifestyle services in Sabah reaffirms the company’s commitment to the region.
He said that he hopes the app can give restaurants in the state a better margin as he claimed that they are charging less than their competitors, adding that perhaps one day these Sabah restaurants will have a presence in Peninsula Malaysia.
Under this initiative, food delivery service is only the first step under the group’s four step plan. The second, third, and fourth steps will include package deliveries, cosmetics and groceries shopping, and expansion of fresh agricultural produce deliveries and more.
Fernandes also said that the platform would create employment opportunities for more people in Sabah and brings significant benefits to farmers, suppliers, and businesses.
“We would like to see more local entrepreneurs, restaurant owners and grocery suppliers be part of the AirAsia super app and tap into our rich database and extensive market access as Asean’s fastest growing super app,” he said.
He said the platform complements the group’s bigger agriculture and logistics project for Sabah through AirAsia farm.
The airline mogul explained that the app’s business-to-business platform will connect farmers directly to businesses, providing an “ideal ecosystem” in terms of supply chain and distribution of fresh produce in Sabah and for export.
“We will soon have a 6,000 square feet warehouse by AirAsia farm up and running in Kota Kinabalu, serving as a three-in-one Agri Centre with a cold chain facility, office spaces and a dedicated training area benefiting local farmers and SMEs here to upskill and transform in the digital era,” he said.
In conjunction with the launch today, airasia food is offering free meals from July 1 to 6, 2021, while the first 500 customers for AirAsia Fresh will receive RM10 off with this promo code: “AADELIVERSKK”.
Those interested can make their orders on the AirAsia application or visit its website.
The application’s e-commerce head Lim Ben-Jie said the service offer merchants zero listing fee policy as well as lowest commission rate of only 15% on airasia food and 5% on airasia fresh.
Those who are interested to join the AirAsia Delivery Squad team can visit Teleport.asia/deliverypartner. – The Vibes, July 1, 2021
