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or Namira Suniaprita, buying groceries at the supermarket is a hassle amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She has to wear a face mask, use latex gloves and immediately wash the clothes she wore to the store upon returning home.

“I’m too scared to go to the market. That’s why I buy food supplies online,” said the 22-year-old employee who lives in North Jakarta. As of Tuesday, the North Jakarta administration has reported 25 COVID-19 cases in the area.

Namira said the prices at the online marketplaces were not much higher than at the traditional market, and some marketplaces also offer organic options. She has bought fruits and vegetables, spices and ready-to-cook food, such as instant noodles, from online marketplace Sayurbox.

Namira is not the only individual turning to online marketplaces. Food e-commerce has seen rapid growth in customers since the government urged people to stay at home amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Sayurbox chief finance officer Arif Zamani told The Jakarta Post on Monday that, since the government declared a state of emergency over the pandemic on March 20, the number of buyers had tripled and kept rising.

“We are currently only available in the Greater Jakarta area, and we see significant demand growth in Jakarta,” he said in a text message, adding that more people were buying fruits and vegetables, but demand for spices had also tripled.

Arif said asking prices from Sayurbox’s local farmers and suppliers were still normal, but prices for imported goods, such as garlic and onions, had risen due to short supply.

The government recently expedited the import of 90,000 tons of garlic and 2,000 tons of onions to stabilize prices in preparation for a surge in demand during Ramadan, which will start in late April.

Prices for the two ingredients have soared, with garlic reaching Rp 46,000 (US$3.61) per kilogram, almost double the usual Rp 25,000 to Rp 30,000 per kg, while onion prices have leaped to Rp 170,000 per kg in March from Rp 62,500 in February and Rp 35,500 in January.

Sayurbox also added more logistics personnel to handle the increase of orders but has given the couriers reduced working time to ensure they get enough rest. Sayurbox also distributes hand sanitizer to its employees and disinfects its office.

“We don’t put any chemical in our products, but we do disinfect our office routinely to prevent the coronavirus spread,” he said.

Another online food marketplace, TaniHub, also reported a significant increase in demand for its agricultural products, including herbal plants, at all of its branches: Bandung in West Java, Denpasar in Bali, the Greater Jakarta area, Surabaya in East Java as well as Yogyakarta.

“There is more demand for the usual groceries like fruits and vegetables,” said TaniHub Group cofounder and chief executive officer Ivan Arie Sustiawan. “But there is also an unusual increase in rootstocks, such as ginger, turmeric and curcuma as well as cooking spices and frozen foods.”

Arie went on to say that TaniHub packaged its goods in a closed box so the products had no direct contact with the courier, to ensure safety during the pandemic.