M’sian Food Chain Accused of Disguising Itself on GrabFood Under 17 Different Names

Besides being a convenient food delivery service, GrabFood is a great platform for small businesses and vendors to get out and build their online presence. However, it seems that some parties may be abusing the platform for their personal gain. According to X user @farahharith, there are local F&B businesses that allegedly disguise themselves as different restaurants under separate listings with varying names.

Farah tagged @GrabMY in her post and wrote “One such culprit is @popmeals_my. These 17 (places) are just different names for one shot. Not two or three. Seventeen.” She also shared screenshots of the restaurants with different names such as ‘La Famiglia Pasta’ and ‘Ayam Gepuk Gajus’, located in Bandar Tasik Puteri, Selangor.

She also shared a Tweet she posted on March 2, 2023, saying that Pop Meals has allegedly been doing this for a long time. Although she tweeted about it last year and tagged them, she said there was no response. There used to be only four different names, but it has now increased to 17.

According to Zensite, “previously known as ‘dahmakan,’ Pop Meals is a Kuala Lumpur-based brand that provides cloud kitchen food delivery services.” However, Farah wrote, “I can see that some people think this could be a cloud kitchen concept’ but cloud kitchens refer to different operators who use one kitchen. However, the menus for Pop Meals are all the same. For example, Pop Meals and House of Buttermilk at SB Mall have the same item and description, only different names.”

According to Oracle, “a cloud kitchen utilises a commercial kitchen to prepare food for delivery or takeout only, with no dine-in customers.”

The post has garnered a lot of attention with plenty of netizens showing their agreement with Farah's post. One X user chimed in saying, “I remember the good old days of Pop Meals prepared by top chefs and their food was delicious. There were different menus every week. Now that they’ve expanded, they’ve lost their quality but gained production quantity. However, demand has decreased. This is one of the pros and cons of expanding your business.”

Another X user said the following places were allegedly the same restaurants under the Epic brand with different names: New York’s Patty and Toast, Pasta King, Bachelor’s Pizza Co., and El Burrito Co.

“Pop Meals is definitely into the ghost kitchen concept. Many brands are under one roof. But because they all sell Pop Meals menu, I can never trust buttermilk chicken again. It’s also stupid that they keep the Pop Meals branding by the time it reaches you,” said a user.

Have you ever encountered this scenario while making a Grab order?