Go-Food Festival Brings Favorite Shops Closer to Customers
Jakarta. Held by app-based on-demand service provider Go-Jek, the Go-Food Festival attracts up to 4,000 visitors each day. The festival introduces people to the Go-Food service and allows those who are already familiar with it to meet their favorite merchants.
Taking place at Pasaraya Blok M mall in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, the festival has been running for three weeks and will end on Jan. 19. It features 30 best-selling shops from Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) on the Go-Food roster, including Mister Lie, Dapur MTW, Cirengcrispi, Kopi Aku Kamu, Sec Bowl, Seblak Raos and Bebek Kaleyo.
Go-Food is one of the services of Go-Jek, which originally started out as an online transportation platform. Launched in April 2015, Go-Food allows users to order food from registered restaurants via the Go-Jek app, and then motorbike drivers will deliver the food.
Now there are 125,000 restaurants all over Indonesia registered as Go-Food merchants.
Go-Jek's commercial expansion chief Catherine Hindar Sutjahyo said most of the merchants at the festival are located far from the venue.
She said at a press conference on Tuesday (09/11) that Go-Food is very popular in South Jakarta but many of its favorite shops are located far away, so customers often complain the food has gone cold by the time it arrives.
But during the festival, people can get their food faster — by attending the festival or ordering it online but from closer to home — and eat it while it is still warm. The festival has been notching up 50-100 online and offline transactions per day.
Go-Jek founder and chief executive Nadiem Makarim said the event is a perfect opportunity for Go-Food users to taste dishes outside of what they usually order and get acquainted with old and new merchants.
"We hope at Go-Food Festival our customers can get to know their favorite merchants and learn more about the food they like to order," Nadiem said.
The festival also stages a series of events to entertain visitors, including movie screenings on Fridays, music performances on Saturdays and children’s programs on Sundays. Pop singer Kunto Aji will perform a live set on the last day of the festival.
Supporting Small-Medium Enterprises
Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno, who attended the press conference, praised the festival and Go-Food's contribution to help the development of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jakarta.
Over eighty percent of Go-Food merchants are SMEs. The festival has been like a temporary new branch for most of them and should help some of them to find new market and expand.
"We didn't charge the merchants up front. We prepared the food stands and the cooking equipment. We only demanded that they perform strict quality control on the food," Catherine said.
At the end of the festival, the merchants will share their earnings with Go-Jek.
Nadiem said in such a short time Go-Food has already made a significant economic and social impact. Now both big restaurant chains and home-based businesses benefit from being included in the Go-Food directory and having drivers on call to deliver the food.
"They don’t have to worry about trying to attract customers or the logistics, and just focus on improving the food quality," Nadiem said.
He also claimed that Go-Food has made street foods even more popular in Jakarta. Last year, three million martabaks (sweet or savory egg pancakes) and two million ayam geprek (spicy smashed fried chicken) were sold through Go-Food.
Tags: Keywords: