Layoffs and resignations at Honestbee as regional expansion hits a snag

Photo credit: Honestbee.

Honestbee, a regional grocery and food delivery service headquartered in Singapore, is facing turbulence.

In January, it “temporarily paused” its partnership with NTUC FairPrice, one of Singapore’s largest supermarket chains, right before Lunar New Year. People were no longer able to buy groceries from FairPrice via the Honestbee app.

In Taiwan, Honestbee allegedly owed money to its partner vendors, local media reported earlier this month. But the company said that it has paid 80% of the debt while the rest is being processed.

Now, during Easter week, Honestbee has received resignations from senior executives and conducted a round of layoffs last week in several markets, including Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Thailand, multiple sources within the startup told Tech in Asia.

According to sources, redundancies affected at least 50 to 70 people across all markets. In Thailand, 30 people in the food delivery and operations departments were hit. In Indonesia, more than five people were let go.

An Honestbee spokesperson confirmed that 6% of the workforce was affected.

At the last count, Honestbee had over 1,000 employees in the region.

In addition, the company has also temporarily suspended food delivery operations in Hong Kong, and Thailand, following a “strategic review,” the spokesperson added. “The status of Honestbee in the remaining markets remain unchanged.”

Operations in the Philippines was also stopped for the time being, despite the fact that the country is Honestbee’s best-performing market, a source pointed out. Following behind the top market is Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan, the person added. Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia make up the bottom half.

It is also among the top-ranking food and drink apps on Android and iOS in the Philippines, according to App Annie.

Rankings for iOS / Image credit: Honestbee