Over the past few years, Indonesia has seen an increase in coffee consumption. 

A report released by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service shows that the country’s coffee consumption rose to 4.3 million bags in the 2018-2019 season, thanks to consumer demand for freshly roasted, soluble and ready-to-drink (RTD) products.

The same researchers forecasted that, in the 2019-2020 season, consumption would increase to 4.9 million bags with coffee shop chains opening new outlets at nearly every shopping center, transportation hub and office complex.

But then the pandemic hit, prompting coffee shop owners to rethink their strategies. 

Yoshua Tanu, CEO of Jago Coffee, a digital platform for coffee chain brands on wheels, told kompas.com that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the business, especially during the imposition of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in Jakarta. 

Nevertheless, the platform has seen a 30 percent increase in monthly income, thanks to its delivery service.

Read also: Coffee by the liter, Korean food most sought-after during pandemic: Tokopedia

Yoshua explained that Jago Coffee offered a free-delivery service without minimum order value.

He reasoned that high delivery fees or minimum order amounts would make consumers think twice before buying the products and added that the strategy had gained the company more loyal customers.

On-demand delivery services have indeed helped coffee shops stay afloat during the pandemic.

Following the imposition of the PSBB, many coffee shops began to offer coffee by the liter through online food delivery services, such as Go-Food and GrabFood.

Coffee lover Erwin told kompas.com in June that he would often visit coffee shops in pre-coronavirus days. However, he now prefers to purchase coffee by the liter using the delivery service, as he can get several cups of coffee in one bottle. 

Read also: Coffee in the new normal era: The end of coffee shops?

In addition to online food delivery services, 1-liter quantities of coffee are also available for purchase via e-commerce platforms, such as Tokopedia.

Tokopedia has launched the #SatuDalamKopi (united in coffee) campaign to promote local coffee sales, such as the 1-liter coffee, ground coffee and coffee beans, on one page of its website.

Dua Coffee is one of the local cafés that started selling its products through Tokopedia since the pandemic began.

The café’s cofounder Omar Karim Prawiranegara said 80 percent of the coffee shop sales now came from online orders. “Moving our business online was inevitable, and online sales are now the backbone of our business,” he said. (jes)

 

Editor’s note: The following is part of a campaign by the government’s COVID-19 task force to raise public awareness about the pandemic.