Thanyalat Chaleunsouk: A food-tech operator on a mission to revolutionize the F&B Industry

Building a business isn’t all glamour and success—it takes tough decisions, relentless effort and persistence. Thanyalat Chaleunsouk knows this well, having faced these challenges head-on—whether scaling foodpanda Laos from the ground up or launching Yoosay in a completely new market. But that’s what it takes when you’re on a mission to truly change an industry.

Thanyalat is the CEO of Yoosay, a startup that goes live today with a mission to transform how food and beverage vendors operate in Southeast Asia. With her deep background in scaling businesses within the food tech sector—having previously served as Managing Director at foodpanda Laos—Thanyalat understood the industry’s needs. However, she also recognized the ongoing struggle to bridge the gap between traditional operations and the digital-first world. Even with her expertise, turning a vision into a tech-driven solution was a significant challenge. Looking back, she sees every obstacle as an opportunity to learn and grow, and Yoosay’s launch today marks just the beginning of its mission to help F&B businesses thrive.

From Scaling foodpanda to Empowering F&B Businesses

Thanyalat’s journey at foodpanda was one of rapid growth. Under her leadership, foodpanda expanded across Laos, built a strong vendor network, and grew from a small team into a nationwide service. In less than two years, she led the team from a single employee to over 200 full-time staff, supporting 5,000+ delivery riders and onboarding more than 30,000 vendor partners.

But amid all the operational scaling and expansion, one major challenge for F&B vendors became clear—managing orders across multiple channels while keeping costs down and growing profits.

Recent market analyses show that during the pandemic, food delivery volumes in Southeast Asia surged by as much as 183% between 2019 and 2020, even as overall F&B sales declined by more than 25%. Looking ahead, the region’s foodservice market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 13%, driven by the increasing reliance on digital channels (according to Market Study).

“Managing multiple order streams—both online and offline—became a major challenge for many business owners. On top of that, there was constant pressure to maintain profit margins while controlling operational costs.”

- Thanyalat explains.

This realisation came to her as she was speaking to more business owners on the ground, skipping surveys and online questionnaires. The Antler residency program pushed her to pivot her approach entirely by week 3, challenged her team to think outside of the box technically as well as operationally to build technologies that could help increase marginal gains for vendors.

By moving fast, her efforts had paid off—Yoosay had already secured 20 Letters of Intent (LOIs) by week 10 from excited customers eager to adopt the system after she showed them the demo. The demand is real for a solution that can help F&B businesses scale in a direction that is less and less reliant on food delivery platforms.

This realization was the catalyst for Yoosay—an innovative platform designed to help F&B vendors consolidate orders, optimize operations, and bring their customers closer to the brand. Thanyalat knew firsthand the struggles these vendors faced, and Yoosay was born out of a genuine desire to solve these pain points.

Looking Ahead: A Vision for Sustainable Growth 

Thanyalat is focused on the future. “Yoosay is just the beginning. We want to create an ecosystem where F&B vendors don’t just survive—they thrive,” she shares. She envisions Yoosay as an essential partner for F&B businesses, helping them scale operations in a sustainable and profitable way in an increasingly digital world.

Looking ahead, Thanyalat sees tremendous opportunity for growth, both within Southeast Asia and beyond. “We have big plans. We’ll continue to evolve our platform, expand our partnerships, and support F&B vendors as they grow. The mission is clear—to make Yoosay an essential part of every vendor’s journey toward success.

Experience Yoosay and see firsthand how their platform is reshaping Southeast Asia’s F&B industry with streamlined operations and data-driven insights—visit www.yoosay.app

If you're a person with drive, grit, and vision, who wants to build a solution for a meaningful problem, apply to an Antler residency in 20+ locations.