As sambal is often a part of daily life in Indonesia, it is only natural that a large number of prospective entrepreneurs seek to popularize their own take on the condiment, one of them being Sambal Raja Roa.

Established in 2014 by Imam Masyhuda in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Sambal Raja Roa is a MSME specializing in a variety of premium Indonesian sambal, from its namesake sambal roa and sambal ebi, sambal cumi, to sambal cakalang.

In an interview with tribunnews.com, Imam said that he started the business during his last semester of university after tasting sambal roa made by his Manadonese mother-in-law.

“At the time, my mother-in-law was cooking sambal roa. That was the first time I tried it, and it was delicious. I offered the sambal to my friends and the feedback was great, so my wife and I decided to start selling the sambal roa,” he said.

Starting from his mother-in-law’s recipe, Imam eventually branched out to other kinds of sambal. He also started experimenting with sales channels, including using a cart to sell his products.

Sambal Raja Roa finally went digital in 2019, when Imam left his job at a state-owned-enterprise to focus on his business full time. The reason for this, he continues, is because he was often reassigned to various locations across the country.

After discussing the resignation plan with his wife, Imam finally took the plunge. However, he did have to deal with several challenges beginners often had to deal with, such as a large capital budget needed to keep his sambal on top of the increasingly competitive market.

“I redesigned the packaging. I hired a designer to design everything, from the box to the label. Another issue was that I no longer had a salary coming in every month, so for three months straight I had to dip into my savings for operational, development, and marketing costs before finally making a profit.”

Sambal Raja Roa official store ( Courtesy of www.tokopedia.com/.)

Starting in 2019, Sambal Raja Roa started selling on social media and online marketplaces. Imam chose Tokopedia as Sambal Raja Roa’s main marketplace for its ease of use, noting that Tokopedia is very thorough in handling Sambal Raja Roa’s needs.

The benefits immediately started pouring in. Two of Sambal Raja Roa’s flagship products, the sambal roa and sambal cakalang, became favorites of Tokopedia users. Sales increased drastically, with a monthly revenue of up to Rp 50 million thanks to orders from marketplaces like Tokopedia.

Then the unexpected happened. The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged businesses across the world, including Sambal Raja Roa, which saw its revenue drop by 80 percent after Idul Fitri 2020. According to Imam, it was inevitable and understandable, as many chose to focus on purchasing essential goods to survive the pandemic.

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Despite the drop in revenue, Sambal Raja Roa’s presence on Tokopedia became a lifeline. Prior to the pandemic, most transactions were from chat applications, but online marketplaces make up most of the sales, with Tokopedia accounting for 50 percent of the total sales in the last few months.

After joining Tokopedia’s Selected Store Collection (Kumpulan Toko Pilihan, KTP) campaign, Imam said that revenue had increased threefold, an increase of 50 percent over Sambal Raja Roa’s prepandemic revenue.

The TopAds feature has also increased Sambal Raja Roa’s market reach, shipping across the country, including Manado, the birthplace of sambal roa itself. One particular order even crossed borders, where a customer placed a Rp 2 million order of sambal reshipped it to a relative residing in Cambodia.

Even so, Imam is not content with just rising sales numbers, preferring to increase service quality to reflect Sambal Raja Roa’s reputation.

“To ensure taste, I make sure that each product is consistent in its amount, and we also make sure to use hard-wearing plastic so that the products can be safely delivered to our customers,” he explained, noting that a majority became repeat customers, often writing glowing reviews on the taste and consistency of the sambal.

“I found that selling through online marketplaces and being active on social media is the best way to grow our business. We can put a link to our online store on our social media account so customers can find us easily.”