Leveraging Alipay's technology and know-how to accelerate Chope's rapid growth and evolution into multi-service dining app.

Leading regional F&B tech startup Chope and Alipay announced a strategic partnership, working together to accelerate digitalisation of F&B businesses across Asia.

Through this strategic partnership, Alipay will provide Chope with its mini program Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and know-how, while Chope becomes Alipay's platform partner with the capability to integrate a wide variety of mini programs quickly and flexibly, enhancing the functionality and scalability of Chope's platform. 

Businesses of all sizes will now be able to easily integrate into the Chope app through mini programs, which are easy to build, highly-customisable and cost-effective. This allows F&B operators to reach Chope's millions of users, leverage Alipay's innovative technology and digitalise their operations in one fell swoop - providing speedy access to market, and a truly omni-channel experience. Meanwhile, diners can look forward to a wider variety of F&B types and dining services on the Chope app.

Arrif Ziaudeen, CEO of The Chope Group, said, "The pandemic has fueled adoption of digital solutions and services among F&B operators. For some, the extreme restrictions have forced them to finally adapt to digital lifestyles not only to remain competitive, but to survive. Our partnership with Alipay comes at an opportune time to help lead this evolutionary step-change. We look forward to not only the F&B industry's recovery but also growth in the region, and we believe that building an open mini program ecosystem will be a powerful enabler of that. Working closely with Alipay and our F&B partners, our ambition is to do with Asia's giant foodservice industry what e-commerce has done with shopping".

This strategic partnership is a testament to Chope's position and strong reputation as the region's leading F&B technology startup with its products used by thousands of clients and backed by leading venture capital and tech investors. Chope works with the region's largest F&B operators and has become a ubiquitous app on diners' phones by combining a keen understanding of how restaurants really work with consumers' evolving habits. From reservations to table management, marketing, deals, and delivery, Chope has built a comprehensive offering and aggregated a fragmented market, forming a strong foundation for the Alipay partnership.  

"We are constantly striving to support the digital transformation of the service industries including F&B, and we strongly believe in an open ecosystem approach so that our partners can make the most use of our capabilities such as the mini program SaaS," said Cherry Huang, General Manager, Global Merchant Partnership, South and Southeast Asia, Alipay. "Chope makes an outstanding partner of choice for Alipay with its vision to drive innovation and its vast network of local F&B operators, many of which are small and medium-sized businesses. With Chope's integration with Alipay's mini program, we look forward to supporting the recovery of local F&B businesses and helping them thrive."

This strategic partnership comes as the local F&B industry continues to tackle the challenges brought upon by the ongoing pandemic, signaling both firms' continued commitment to the recovery of the local F&B industry.