Bubble Tea & Ayam Geprek Most Popular Orders Through GrabFood in Indonesia
According to GrabFood, the food delivery service of Singapore-based technology company Grab, there are two refreshments or snacks that are particularly popular in Indonesia (and which top the ranking in terms of most ordered products by Indonesian consumers through the GrabFood app). These two products are fried chicken and bubble tea.
In Indonesia GrabFood is present in 116 cities. In the first 11 months of 2018, Grab claims to have delivered 13 million "ayam geprek" meals through its delivery service. Ayam geprek is an ordinary fried chicken but its structure is crushed (with the pestle) and usually mixed with a (hot and spicy) sambal sauce.
On second position comes bubble tea, a drink that has become increasingly popular in Indonesia in recent years (and you can find many bubble tea shops in the malls). Grab delivered 1.5 million bubble tea orders throughout Indonesia in the first 11 months of the year with the most popular bubble tea flavor being Hazelnut Chocolate Bubble Tea.
Based on information from Wikipedia, bubble tea is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980s. Recipes contain tea of some kind and flavors of milk. An important characteristic is that the consumer can add various toppings to the drink, such as chewy tapioca balls (also known as pearls, or boba), popping boba, fruit jelly, grass jelly, and agar jelly. Grab also noted that Indonesian consumers tend to order bubble tea on Friday, for most the last working day of the week.
Earlier this month US-based technology giant Google and Singapore's wealth fund Temasek Holdings released a joint report stating that Indonesia's e-commerce industry is projected to be worth around USD $53 billion by 2025, largely due to first-time buyers in second- and third-tier cities across the Indonesian archipelago.
Meanwhile, Google said Indonesia's Internet economy, which refers to the financial value of all activity based on digital technologies, including the Internet, is expected to reach up to USD $100 billion by 2025 – by far the highest in the Southeast Asian region – from USD $27 billion currently, and USD $8 billion in 2015. This estimate includes ride-hailing services (such as Grab or Go-Jek) valued at USD $14 billion.
Southeast Asia has attracted funds from both local and global investors over the past four years, with the lion's share going to unicorn startups such as Go-Jek, Grab, Traveloka, Tokopedia and Bukalapak. At around USD $6 billion, Grab secured the highest amount, emerging as the next decacorn – a company valued at more than USD $10 billion.