Grab Captures Malaysia's Leading Supermarket Company, Jaya Grocer

Grab Group CEO and Co-founder, Anthony Tan. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Southeast Asia's leading super app, Grab, announced that it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jaya Grocer (Trendcell Sdn. Bhd.), Malaysia's leading supermarket chain.

The announcement was made by the Group CEO and Co-founder of Grab, Anthony Tan via his linkedin account in Kuala Lumpur, Tuesday 1 February.

"Welcome to the Grab family! Having spent a lot of time with the owners - the Teng family - and their team over the past few months. It is clear that they are not only veterans of running a complex supermarket business, they also share a value and dedication to serving customers," he said. , reported by Antara.

Anthony says one of these can be seen from the efforts they put into smoking their own salmon and making their own baked goods to ensure their customers get the best possible product.

"This is just one of the many things that have opened the eyes of Alex Hungate and me as we have visited their distribution center and stores in recent weeks," he said.

With the acquisition, Anthony is confident that this partnership will pave the way to make on-demand groceries more accessible to everyone, and enable both to grow faster and better.

Grab and Jaya Grocer also announced the launch of GrabPay and GrabRewards at all of Jaya Grocer's physical retail stores and expanded use of Grab's popular "cashless" wallet.

"This acquisition comes at a time of accelerated growth in on-demand grocery delivery services. Prolonged movement restrictions and consumer concerns about safety and hygiene have led to a boom in online grocery shopping," he said.

Based on data, 64 percent of Southeast Asian internet users bought groceries online at least once during the pandemic, but online grocery transactions only accounted for about two percent of total grocery spending.

It is estimated that online wholesalers in Southeast Asia could grow to $50 billion in merchandise value -- the size of today's overall e-commerce market -- with a penetration rate of 10 percent similar to that of modern or advanced markets.