NakakaLOKAL Festival by Grab in support of SME’s

Grab, the leading super app in Southeast Asia, joins Cebu in celebrating the Buwan ng Wika by bannering the unique flavours of Cebu through local food merchants that are featured in the NakakaLOKAL Festival.

A campaign that brings together homegrown businesses and Grab’s super app services to celebrate the unique flavours and traditions of Cebu, NakakaLOKAL Festival is Grab’s way of strengthening it’s support for local small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) that stay true to their roots as Cebuanos.

Cebu has a rich cultural heritage with an abundance of delicious food. With a dynamic food culture owing to the diverse influences of various nationalities that the natives had traded with during the pre-Spanish era, Cebu is home to different treats such as puso, chorizo, lechon, and tuslob-buwa.

This unique culture is highlighted by local SMEs that pass on traditional recipes and maintain local values in their business models. These merchants, according to the Asian Development Bank, are considered as the backbone of Asian economies, and in the Philippines, these business make up 99.6 percent of establishments in the country.

“As the leading super app, we are in a unique position to give SMEs their chance and empower them to grow. GrabFood, for instance, has successfully helped food merchants to expand their operations outside their establishments. We are happy to launch the NakakaLOKAL Festival in Cebu to strengthen our commitment to helping local SMEs to thrive, “Grab Philippines President Brian Cu said.

In celebration of Buwan ng Wika this August, Grab steps up as a proud supporter and enabler of local SMEs in the Philippines through a month-long celebration of businesses that keep the Philippine culture alive.

The Nakakalokal Festival will run for the whole month in the Grab-app and during Fridays and Saturdays of August at The Market by Sugbo in Mandaue City, Cebu. Open  publicly to all Grab users, the festival features a culinary and crafts adventure with GrabFood’s most popular homegrown food brands.

Holding this festival is Grab’s way of contributing to the preservation of Cebu’s cultural heritage. As we continue to put the best interests of the Filipino people at the forefront of our business, we will reamin steadfast in bannering proudly-Filipino SMEs to the public,” Cu added.

Local food adventure

At the festival, visitors may embark on a culinary adventure across the different food spots in Cebu.

Visitors may enjoy the grilled tuna panga of Kuzina Guadalupe, the tasty pork barbeque of Barbix, the various turo-turo finds of Apurado, and the sweet-tasty fresh seafood of Seabu.

They may also enjoy the refreshing lemon juice of The Lemon Co., the soft serve classic mango float of Swirl Dessert Corner, the sweet mango shake of Ally Mango, and the signature halo-halo of Joanna’s.

NakakaLOKAL Festival will also feature food and drinks from Tropic Fruit Bar, Hebrews Shebrews, Cribs, Charred, Cheatday, MO2 Bar, Pasta Hut, Luljille’s Kitchenette, Delfa’s Tungolan, Sushi Fresh Daily, and Big Catch.

Each one offers a unique taste bud experience that will satisfy the cravings and hunger of Sugbuanon and other visitors.

Rewarding experiences and exciting prizes

To celebrate the introduction of the NakakaLOKAL Festival, Grab is also introducing NakakaLOKAL MVP, a featured in-app challenge for its users throughout August until the first week of September. The NakakaLOKAL MVP challenge includes:

·       For the first time GrabPay users in Cebu : Get Php 100 cashback when they activate their GrabPay wallet and make at least one regular transaction with a minimum amount of P200 pesos on GrabCar, GrabExpress, in-store transaction via scan-to-pay, or online payments using GrabPay.

·       For existing GrabPay Users in Cebu: Get Php 100 cashback when they do at least two regular transactions on GrabCar, GrabExpress, in-store transaction via scan-to-pay, or online payments worth at least P200 using GrabPay.

Users who complete the NakakaLOKAL MVP will automatically qualify to exciting raffle promos such as:

• 3 winners of travel packages for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (including flight and hotel accommodation)
• 17 winners of 2 flight tickets each viaMabuhay Miles to any Philippine destination
• 50 winners of Good Shepherd Baguio Gift Set.
• 50 winners of Lechon from Rico’s  Lechon Cebu
• 50 winners of Auro Chocolates from Davao.
• 25 winners of Rent By Grab Mountaiin Tour
• 1000 winners of Karton Gift Boxes with different featured products from its partner SMEs
• 150 winners of Unilab Malasakit Bundles

The NakakaLOKAL MVP challenge runs until September 8. Winners will be announced in the second week of September.

“We have always been inspired by the power of technology when used for good, and we at Grab would like to harness that asset to empower more Cebuanos to live better lives everyday,” Cu said.

Putting additional 1000 merchants on the map

To help local businesses thrive and succeed, Grab also aims to put at least 1000 SMEs on the map. This will allow businesses to be discoverable in-app so that consumers and driver-partners can easily locate them on Grab related transactions.

Anyone can nominate local businesses by filling out a form at the booth or by simply replying to Grab’s social media channels. Votes will be accumulated until the end of the festival on August 30.

“We are opening our doors to more SMEs in the Philippines who wish to be part of Grab’s ecosystem. Our goal is to tap more local businesses and help them reap the benefits of our connected superapp services, which has already empowered thousands of entrepreneurs and enterprises to date,” Cu added. “We have always been inspired by the power of technology when used for good, and we at Grab would like to harness that asset to empower more Filipinos to live better lives everyday.”

About Grab

Grab is the leading super app in Southeast Asia, providing everyday services that matter most to consumers. Today, the Grab app  has been downloaded onto over 150 million mobile devices, giving users to access to over 9 million drivers, merchants, and agents. Grab has the region’s largest land transportation fleet and has completed over 3 billion rides since its founding in 2012. Grab offers the widest range of on-demand transport services in the region, in addition to food and package delivery services, across 336 cities in eight countries.