HappyFresh Reveals Potential Startup Injected by Djarum Group – Lippo

HappyFresh revealed that the business of providing basic necessities or groceries was boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Conglomerates such as the Djarum Group, Astra International, and the Ciputra Group have also penetrated this sector through startups.

HappyFresh CEO Guillem Segarra said, the corona pandemic changed people’s lifestyles in meeting their daily needs. People are becoming more and more dependent on digital services, such as HappyFresh.

“We are experiencing an aggressive increase in transactions,” said Guillem at the Tech in Asia Conference 2021, Tuesday (12/10).

At the beginning of the pandemic last year, the number of orders for basic necessities through the HappyFresh platform increased rapidly. The highest increases are staple goods, fruits, herbs, personal hygiene, and home care.

To cope with the surge in demand, HappyFresh is adding delivery slots every day. This startup supported by Sinar Mas is also working with supermarket partners for stock updates. Guillem estimates that basic needs services are still reliable, even making a profit.

“I think the profitability of groceries will always go up,” he said. Competition will be more crowded, plus the number of conglomerate companies that enter. “It will generate competition,” he said.

The Basic Needs Sector Has Great Potential

Director of Bank Central Asia (BCA) Santoso also said that a number of conglomerates are aggressively targeting the sector because of its great potential.

“The company’s consumer needs must be met. We believe that in the future there will be an ecosystem of shops built, both online and offline,” said Santoso, Monday (11/10).

Several studies have also stated that the market potential of this sector is large. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the food sector grew positively in the midst of the corona pandemic.

The contribution of the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors is the second largest to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is 14.27%.

Global strategy consulting firm L.E.K Consulting also estimates that the transaction value or gross merchandise value (GMV) of basic digital services is US$ 5 billion – US$ 6 billion (IDR 70 trillion – IDR 84 trillion) in 2025.

Previously, research by Facebook and Bain & Company showed that 44% of consumers in Southeast Asia shopped for staples online during the corona pandemic. This habit is predicted to remain a trend even though it enters the new normal or when the pandemic is over.

YouGov research in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam in April 2020 showed that shopping for basic goods through e-commerce or social media increased dramatically during the pandemic.

Many Conglomerates Target the Basic Needs Sector

Along with this potential, a number of conglomerates are aggressively targeting the sector of the basic need. Two of them are Sinar Mas and the Djarum Group.

Sinar Mas through venture capital firm Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV) funded HappyFresh in 2019. At that time, the startup received Series C funding of US$ 20 million or around IDR 280 billion.

Djarum Group Djarum Group expands the ecosystem through Blibli. This e-commerce invests in modern retail company Ranch Market. Blibli acquired 51% stake in Ranch Market, with a takeover transaction value of IDR 2.03 trillion.

Blibli.com Co-Founder and CEO Kusumo Martanto said the company wants to accelerate and strengthen its omnichannel solution through this investment.

In addition to Blibli, the Djarum Group enters the fresh product provider ecosystem indirectly through Gojek. The Djarum Group has been one of Gojek’s investors since 2018. Gojek led the series A funding round for social commerce startup Segari through GoVentures last month.

The investment value is US$ 16 million or IDR 226.8 billion. Segari offers a service to simplify the distribution chain of basic needs through a social commerce business scheme.

The startup, which was founded last year, attracts farmer partners from Java and Sumatra. The startup is leveraging warehouse decentralization in providing services.

Users can access various products, such as basic needs, vegetables, fruit, meat through the platform. Segari claims, these products can be distributed from farmers to consumers within 15 hours.