Foodpanda Singapore trials drone delivery anew
The initiative was done with ST Engineering.
Foodpanda Singapore continues to experiment with drone delivery, recently flying a drone to deliver five packets of ayam penyet from the Marina South Pier to a ship located 3km offshore.
The move was based on an agreement with Singapore Technologies (ST) Engineering in March to use DroNet - ST Engineering’s drone network system - to test the delivery of “light food items” over distances of up to 3km.
Dubbed PandaFly, the collaboration aims to eventually have drone deliveries islandwide, with one of Foodpanda’s 12,000 delivery riders completing the last mile of the delivery.
Foodpanda previously explored the use of drones for deliveries, with the Berlin-based food delivery giant first doing so in Singapore in 2015.
“The fundamental desire in doing delivery by drone for us is to increase the choice for customers,” said Foodpanda Singapore managing director Luc Andreani.
While the initial technological investment would be pricey, he said customers will not have to contend with “crazy high delivery fees.”
“The idea would be to keep delivery fees stable so customers don't feel any difference,” he said, adding that economies of scale meant that the greater use of drones would eventually lead to lower prices.
