Listening to My Bowl Business Strategy to Survive During the Pandemic

Even though its growth was stunted during the pandemic, the existence of cloud and ghost kitchen in Indonesia is able to become an alternative format for culinary business owners in Indonesia to be able to survive in the midst of a crisis. This is to adapt to changes in consumer habits who start making purchases online online, the kitchen concept was an ideal choice because it can make the production process more efficient.

But in the end, to be able to develop a business and get a profit, many culinary business owners hope that their activities dine-in in the restaurant back to normal. This is also what Mangkokku feels.

my bowl which provides food with the concept rice bowls (rice in a bowl) taste of the archipelago. This startup was founded by Randy Kartadinata, Arnold Poernomo, Gibran Rakabuming, and Kaesang Pangarep.

In the #TuesdayStartup session, Mangkokku CEO Randy Kartadinat, revealed the current and future challenges and business potentials.

Business strategy during a pandemic

One of the strategies that was successfully launched by Mangkokku during the pandemic was to start building some o in a residential area. Thus, when many people are reluctant to come to the restaurant, they can still enjoy a selection of typical Indonesian menus from Indonesia o My bowl with a closer distance. Although still relying on partners online delivery like GoFood, GrabFood, and others, but this method is claimed to be powerful enough to increase their sales.

The second strategy that was also launched was to issue menu options at affordable prices. Randy emphasized that at Mangkokku, there are not many menu choices. With 15 featured menu options, it's quite capable of creating engagement and good relations with loyal customers.

As a platform, Mangkokku also carries out the process quality control very strict with their suppliers. This is intentionally done to be able to maintain the quality of the products they present.

Asked how much the company focuses on developing technology, Randy emphasized that a good product is a product that is liked by the public. Furthermore, technology development and other support will be easier to develop.

"From the start we were present offline, but the pandemic has changed all that requires us to be able to adopt the service online online. Starting from developing cloud kitchen to using technology for ordering to delivery," said Randy.

Positive business growth

Currently, Mangkokku claims to have experienced up to 6x business growth after receiving initial funding from Alpha JWC Ventures of $2 million or around 29 billion Rupiah in 2020. This year, Mangkokku is back in the bag. series A pendanaan funding of $7 million or around 101 billion Rupiah led by Alpha JWC Ventures and EMTEK, and participation from Cakra Ventures.

There are several plans that the company wants to carry out after completing this funding, including expanding to renovating kitchen equipment. The fresh funds will also be used to conduct training for talent development, as well as recruiting new talents.

"I believe if the company wants to grow it needs to recruit the right team to support the company's growth," said Randy.

To enhance the shopping experience and convenience, Mangkokku will launch its app at the end of this year. This application will later provide delivery, pick-up, loyalty programs, and special promotions.

In addition, Mangkokku also targets to open its 100th outlet this year and 100 more outlets in 2023. Mangkokku also has plans to be able to bring Indonesian culinary specialties to appear more popular globally.

"During a pandemic cloud kitchen be the most appropriate format to survive. But from the side merchant the hope is that when the normal condition of the dining business will recover and gross margins healthier," said Randy.