Here's what Foodpanda has to say

As the country enters another chapter of COVID-19 surge, many restaurants and concepts are limiting foot traffic in their spaces, therefore, are again shifting their service to to-go, in-store pickups, and via delivery operations. Working with online delivery platforms has been essential to many food businesses ever since the onset of the pandemic. But for others, having their brand included in their virtual food libraries is becoming hard and less feasible, especially for small and mid-size enterprises.

On Jan. 10, 2022, local food brand Mama Dith’s shared its concern with one of the leading online food delivery platforms in the country, Foodpanda. In their now-viral post, the Antipolo-based business says that it has been closed in the app since December 2021, and that it is leaving it due to delayed sending of their sales and additional fees.

“Hindi na nga kami nagrereklamo sa two-week payment scheme , aba, naging two months pa! (We didn’t complained about the two-week payment scheme then, it became two months!),” it said in a post.

“Para sa small business na tulad ko, pumayag ako sa 27 percent commission nila before pandemic , pero starting June 2021, nagsimula na rin sila maningil ng additional 12 percent para daw sa tax nila plus P1K++ agency fee (???) daw na wala naman sa original contract! (For a small business ike us, I agreed to the 27 percent commission they asked before the pandemic then in June 2021, they started asking for additional 12 percent for tax and P1K++ for agency fee that wasn’t included in the original contract).” it continued.

Apart from the added expenses and payment hold up, Mama Dith’s also expressed its disappointment on the limited communication channels vendors can access to talk with Foodpanda.

“'Diba nga, ‘partners’ daw kami? Eh bakit pag kaming mga vendors ang may problema sa app or remittance nila, through email or chat lang sila pwede i-contact? Pero pag sila may problema sa amin, aba, kung makatawag at demand, grabe! At kapag nadetect pa na nakaclose store mo, talagang kukulitin ka sa mga automated calls (We are ‘partners,’ right? Then why is it that whenever us vendors have a problem about the app or remittance, we can only contact them through email or chat? And when they have a problem with us, they way they call and demand is too much! And when they detect that your store is closed, they’ll bother us through automated calls),” Mama Dith’s said.

After a series of emails and chats, and getting an “iimbestigahan” (investigating) response, Mama Dith’s included the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in its email. According to the same post, Foodpanda quickly took care of its concerns saying, “Takot sila sa DTI pero sa vendors wala silang pake! (They are afraid of the DTI but they do not care about their vendors).”

“Kaya tuluyan na rin namin ititigil ang one-sided ‘partnership’ kuno sa Foodpanda...Kung nais niyong mas masuportahan ang mga small business owners tulad namin, through dine-in, Grab, or for pickup na lang ha! (That’s why we are now ending our one-sided ‘partnership’ with Foodpanda... If you want to support small business owners like us, you can through dine-in, Grab, or via pickup),” it ends.

In the comment section, Mama Dith’s also shared other small food businesses that are leaving the platform.

Through an email conversation, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle reached to Foodpanda for their comment regarding Mama Dith’s post.

"We listen to the feedback that we receive from our partners, whether positive or negative, because they help us become better. We are constantly looking at the areas that we need to improve, especially in providing the best possible service to our partners," Foodpanda said. "Mama Dith’s is a beloved establishment in their community, and we know how much effort they put, day in and day out, towards serving their customers. We know that we have made shortcomings in giving them the kind of service that they themselves give to their own customers; we sincerely apologize for this, as we reach out to Mama Dith’s owners to relay our commitment to make things right, and move forward in the right direction."