WATCH: Erwan Heussaff and Sassa Gurl discover hidden gems on this food app (Sabong News)

During the height of pandemic lockdowns, the food industry was working double time to meet the demands of the public. Small food businesses also took the spotlight offering new flavors and dishes from colorful milk teas to creative burger concepts. To help consumers discover more of the unique dimension these small businesses add to the local culinary scene, superapp Grab launched Indie Eats as “a program aiming to help merchant-partners amplify their presence on GrabFood and bring their offerings to the spotlight.” Some highlights include refreshing mango coolers from Mango Series, hearty “lugaw” from Lugay ni Pinggo, and flavorful pastries from Panaderia Pantoja. “At Grab, we are always ready to provide support to our merchant-partners to ensure they are able to meet success and have a rewarding experience on our platform; in particular, small food businesses hold a lot of potential not just in Grab but in our local food industry as a whole,” Martin Luchangco, Grab Lead for Merchant Partnerships, said. “Indie Eats is just one of the many ways we want to help them in being discovered by more Filipinos, and reach success with us.” For its promotions, Indie Eats enlisted its ambassadors Erwin Heussaff and Sassa Gurl to help navigate the many partners of the program. The duo took to YouTube their entertaining discovery of culinary delights from local restaurants on Grab. In this exclusive interview, Martin shares more on how Grab turns the spotlight to small business, ultimately bringing undiscovered Filipino brands closer to consumers. How did the partnership with Erwan Heussaff and Sassa Gurl come about? When the team was conceptualizing the campaign, we wanted to go for something unexpected, much like the nature of undiscovered gems offered by Indie Eats, which is what the tandem brings in. The collaboration of Erwan Heussaff and Sassa Gurl would be the last thing consumers would expect, but ended up flowing very well, as seen from the video and their chemistry there. In the same way, this never-before-seen concept is something we want Indie Eats to be – unexpected, but works really well. As more Filipinos use online platforms for dining, what is Grab’s overall vision for the local food industry? Overall, but especially for Indie Eats, Grab is committed to not only continue providing a wide variety yet quality dishes to its consumers but to support our vast community of merchant-partners by shining the light on them and highlighting the unique offerings that they can give consumers. As we continue navigating the ever-changing food industry, we hope our consumers continue to see Grab as a venue where they can make satisfying and memorable experiences through food. And we hope that through Indie Eats, we hope that we are also able to inspire our passionate community of small food businesses to serve quality dishes to our community. Will Indie Eats conduct physical events or on ground activities extending its promotion of small food business? There is definitely more to look forward to with Indie Eats in the future. As more and more Filipinos discover the small businesses in their area, what Grab hopes to continue is its commitment to the growth of its smaller merchant-partners, and we will continue to be agile in identifying steps we can take to continue providing them with the support that they need. If we find that there is an opportunity to highlight our Indie Eats merchants even more through on-ground activities or new content, we would definitely look forward to exploring these channels and help bring our merchant-partners to light.