Honestbee to let go at least 10% of staff, double down on supermarket

Honestbee will be laying off about 10% of its headcount, a spokesperson said today. That would be around 100 employees.

The figure includes the 50 to 70 people that were initially affected, as Tech in Asia first reported.

The company, however, denied that there had been delays in paying its staff.

Honestbee supermarket / Photo credit: Honestbee

In addition, the startup will halt its Hong Kong and Indonesia services, as well as its food delivery service in Thailand. It has temporarily suspended its services in Japan and the Philippines as the company reviews its business.

According to a source, Honestbee’s top-performing markets are the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia make up the bottom half.

See: Layoffs and resignations at Honestbee as regional expansion hits a snag

Honestbee added that Habitat, its physical supermarket, will mark “the next phase” in its “evolution as a food company.”

The startup hit a rough patch lately as it was slow in paying some merchants. It also experienced a wave of resignations of senior executives and attempted to raise money or offload its business.

Honestbee declined to comment beyond its media statement.