UniNam’s Rendang-Inspired Recipe for Online Success
Merry takes her hobby online.
Next to Indonesia’s wealth of cultural diversity and mesmerizing geographical attractions, the charms of the archipelagic country also lie in its rich culinary traditions that have captured global attention. In 2017, rendang, a sumptuous meat dish from West Sumatra, even made it onto CNN’s World’s 50 Best Foods list!
For those of you who haven’t tried it, rendang is cooked in caramelized coconut milk for hours (or days) with a mixture of aromatic spices that blend together to create a tender and flavorful gastronomical perfection that is just so unique!
So, are you hungry yet? You are in luck because you can buy and enjoy this delicious dish through Tokopedia! Let’s find out more from Merry, the owner of UniNam, a Tokopedia seller of more than a decade that offers rendang, about her journey of building her business through our platform and what makes this dish so special!
A hobby that inspired the start of a women-run business
Merry started selling on Tokopedia in 2011 after she made the bold decision to resign from her full-time job in Jakarta. As someone who loves traveling, Merry brings rendang with her every time she goes overseas because of its practicality and long shelf life. Seeing the potential of selling the dish to frequent travelers like herself, she decided to start her business.
With a capital of Rp 2 million that came from her own pocket, she started selling her homemade rendang creations to her friends and family. After receiving positive feedback, she spent a year or two getting serious about taking care of her business licensing and branding until she finally decided to sign up to Tokopedia.
Merry concedes that it was not easy at first, but what helped her business to grow and finally succeed was having a proper support system. She recalled visiting Tokopedia’s old office in a ruko (shophouse) located in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, after creating her Tokopedia seller account, hoping to learn about how to successfully run her online shop.
“I still remember my first visit to Tokopedia’s office. One of the employees was so kind to accept my random visit and even taught me everything about selling online, starting from uploading a product to taking a good photo of the product. I ended up visiting the office many times until I was able to do everything by myself,” she explained.
UniNam’s business operations also rely on the help of amazing cooks based in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, where her main kitchen is located.
“To acquire that authentic taste, our products are freshly made every day by the local communities in Payakumbuh using a traditional cooking method, then shipped to Jakarta. Thanks to the help of my family, I can also market my products well,” Merry added.
Paving the way to online success
With a traditional family recipe handed down from generation to generation, UniNam boasts an authentic rendang taste that Merry claims can only be achieved by using local ingredients only available in West Sumatra.
“Rendang teri daun is one of the signature dishes of UniNam that uses leaves harvested from the hills in Payakumbuh,” she explained.
With a lot of competitors in the market selling rendang, one of the most popular Indonesian dishes of all time, Merry strongly believes that authenticity and consistency play an important role in giving her business a competitive edge. Instead of jumping into the ever-shifting patterns of what people love to eat, Merry keeps her faith in selling rendang, which she believes will continue to be a culinary constant.
For Merry, it’s one thing to have good quality products and quite another to always innovate and be so unique that customers keep coming back for more. Aside from having good quality products with authentic ingredients, UniNam’s bundling products and hampers offer a lot of options for customers to choose from.
“We did struggle for a while in the early days of the pandemic. Thankfully, Ramadan came not long after and our sales recovered quickly, thanks to the sales of our best-selling hampers. During that time, we even had to ship up to 1 ton of rendang in one delivery from Payakumbuh to Jakarta to fulfill the demand of our customers,” Merry joyfully recalled.
It comes as no surprise that UniNam’s rendang is widely enjoyed by customers across Indonesia, especially during Ramadan, as it is an immensely popular dish to serve and enjoy for Idul Fitri celebrations. With the rising trend of gifting hampers for Ramadan, UniNam’s beautifully packaged products easily became a popular choice. This just shows how important it is to have your products available in the right place, at the right time, and with the right quality.
When asked about UniNam’s selling platforms, Merry recounted her past experience. Having tried selling her products in major supermarkets in Jakarta, Merry finally settled on selling her products exclusively in Tokopedia.
“I truly feel like my luck is better here. Every day I get [new] customers — from my very first day of selling on Tokopedia. I even became good friends with some of them!” Merry laughed.
Garnering online success with traditional food packages
In her more than 10-year journey of running an online business, Merry always makes sure to participate in a variety of campaigns and promotion activities run by Tokopedia. Waktu Indonesia Belanja (WIB), Bangga Buatan Indonesia, Tokopedia NYAM, Ramadan Ekstra, among other campaigns, have helped Merry boost UniNam’s sales, even up to 10 times during Ramadan.
In addition to participating in campaigns, UniNam also utilizes TopAds to increase the visibility of its products and reach new customers.
“Before tapping into any campaigns or ads on Tokopedia, I always ensure stock availability so as not to disappoint potential customers. Orders will increase significantly after participating in those campaigns,” Merry explained.
Serving customers from all around Indonesia, Merry emphasized the importance of keeping her business’ good name.
“From my experience of being a seller for more than a decade, the most important thing for me is to have a good reputation and good relationship with my customers. The number one rule that I always keep in mind is to never disappoint my customers,” Merry advised.
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Well, what are you waiting for? It’s time to browse UniNam’s Official Store on Tokopedia and try the world’s most delicious food: rendang.
