Grocery delivery service HappyFresh has been making news recently for temporarily suspending its operations in Malaysia.
However, at the time of writing, we found that the HappyFresh app and website are up and running despite the remaining notices about some of its stores being unavailable.
We even managed to order some groceries from the HappyFresh Supermarket in Bangsar. (Spoiler alert: they actually came!)
However, when clicking into partner stores on the app that weren’t HappyFresh Supermarket, it claims “Sorry, all delivery slots are full” (on iOS) or “No slots for the next 1 day in this store” (on Android) for them.
Not all HappyFresh Supermarket locations are available though
After a bit of searching, it seems like the partner stores aren’t the only ones down. In fact, some of the HappyFresh Supermarkets are completely gone from the app.
We found a comment on Facebook from just three weeks ago where HappyFresh assured customers that HappyFresh Supermarket was available in Ampang, Bangsar, Batu Caves, Kajang, Klang, PJ, and Setia Alam.
But now, we could only find the Bangsar and PJ locations on the app. We even changed our locations to be closer to each store to no avail.
This isn’t a new issue either, as we found comments from six days ago, before news of the suspension of operations, asking why there wasn’t a HappyFresh Supermarket in Ampang anymore.
Another user had chimed in saying that the PJ one was inactive too (but that has since returned, based on what we see in the app at the time of writing).
When we asked our HappyFresh rider when the suspended operations began, he gave us a timeline of about a week ago.
In his words, HappyFresh Malaysia riders were given a “holiday” the past week, and their services only resumed today, which is why we were able to place our order and get it delivered.
Stores that are active are lacking products
While ordering groceries from the HappyFresh Supermarket in Bangsar, we noticed the store was quite empty. We couldn’t find any fresh produce and even simple items like pasta sauce were not available.
There was a little graphic saying that there are more items coming my way, but my managing editor Sade said that at its official launch, she felt that HappyFresh Supermarket’s offerings had been rather sparse to begin with.
Our delivery fee was also rather high, at RM6 for a distance of just 2.3km (give or take). However, we don’t really have a point of reference for what the HappyFresh Supermarket delivery fee would be for this arrangement prior to the current suspensions, so we’re unsure whether this is considered high, or just normal.
Upon reaching out today to the company on Facebook to see if they had a different statement to give now, I was ultimately given the same message that we received yesterday, which detailed that HappyFresh is undergoing an organisational restructuring.
The message also read, “As we rechannel our efforts to reshape our company accordingly, our business operations will be placed on hold temporarily until we have reached a definitive and sustainable solution that would benefit and preserve the business interest of both parties.”
Although, considering that we were able to place an order for some spaghetti and instant coffee and receive them, it’s safe to say HappyFresh’s operations are not completely suspended anymore (for now).
