Loka Padang: Bringing a Vegan Twist to Traditional Padang Food
Padang food from the province of West Sumatra is among the most popular cuisines in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Known especially for its spicy coconut milk-based beef curry, or rendang, it is not common to think of Padang food as having a vegan-friendly option. Or is it?
Let’s hear from one of our sellers, Irene Umar, owner of Loka Padang, as she gives us a glimpse into her journey producing Padang food with a vegan twist!
When did you decide to launch Loka Padang and why?
In 2018, I started a meditation journey. One of the requirements was being vegetarian for 10 days, but I really enjoyed the experience and I have been a vegetarian ever since. I noticed, however, that not many people sell vegetarian food. So I thought, why not start my own business?
After researching more about being vegan and vegetarian, I decided to start this business with a more significant impact in mind: helping people improve their physical health and the environment.
Where do you get your raw materials?
In selecting our raw food ingredients, we always think of how we can reduce our carbon footprint; that is why our first priority is sourcing them from local Indonesian farmers.
During the pandemic, we met with representatives of the Jakarta government. We learned about its food security program, which consults local farmers on farming techniques and how to commercialize their products. We understood that the main issue was local farmers’ lack of access to buyers, whether individual customers or restaurants. They had all these ingredients but no one to buy from them.
During this visit, they also brought us to see the farmers’ chili farm and oyster mushroom cultivation center, which were of very good quality. So, I decided to work with these farmers to not only help them but also support the government’s food security initiatives.
How do you get customers to keep coming back?
In creating our dishes, we work with an in-house nutritionist. This person checks the ingredients and nutrients and ensures our dishes and products are high-quality and consistent. When thinking about how to keep our customers happy, we thought of creative ways to invent new products and dishes to put on our menu.
Of course, we look at what the market needs, what our repeat customers wish to have, and what we would also be interested in eating ourselves. For example, when we discovered that customers wanted jarred chili paste, we started producing that.
Why did you decide to join Tokopedia?
I always knew I wanted to open an online shop. During the pandemic, I finally decided to open up a store on Tokopedia. After spending two to three months learning how to use the platform, the Tokopedia team invited me to join the Tokopedia Nyam program, which helps food and beverage sellers reach more customers, and its Flash Sale campaign.
As a seller, I also had a Relationship Manager (RM) who helped me a lot and invited me to join several educational classes. I found that very unique to Tokopedia and really helpful.
How has selling online impacted your business?
In addition to making consistent sales on a monthly basis, we’ve had the opportunity to provide catering services for different types of customers and events.
One time, we had a person order 50 food packages for healthcare practitioners, while on another occasion we worked with one of the embassies in Jakarta to provide meals for their women empowerment event. These new opportunities all started appearing after we opened up our store on Tokopedia, and continued learning and growing our business.
Check out Loka Padang’s latest dishes on Tokopedia here.
