SaladStop! Gets Funding: Validating the Resilience of Cloud Kitchen

A food chain developer that focuses on healthy food, SaladStop! Group, announced the closing of Series B funding worth SGD12 million or the equivalent of 125.7 billion Rupiah. 

The round was led by Temasek, with the involvement of East Ventures, Vulcan Capital, K3 Ventures and DSG Consumer Partners.

Currently, the service has been used by 3.5 million people per year by users in Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and several other countries.

In Indonesia itself, SaladStop! can only be enjoyed by users in Jakarta and Surabaya. They also operate several brands, including Heybo, Wooshi, and GoodFoodPeople with 69 outlets across the country where they operate.

As the name implies, the menu is served in the form of salads, combining fresh vegetable and animal ingredients. In addition there are several other menus as well such as Wraps, Protein Bowl, and Korean food.

Interestingly, through the site provided for ordering, we can arrange our own food by choosing the basic ingredients, vegetables, toppings, to the dressing. Each food ordered will be calculated nutritional content.

“Our mission is to shape the future of food in Asia and ensure that healthy food is convenient and accessible to everyone. We are excited to partner with strategic investors to scale our business,” said SaladStop’s Co-Founder & CEO! Adrien Desbaillets.

Take Advantage of Cloud Kitchen

In selling their products, SaladStop! take advantage of the cloud kitchen concept. This was chosen in order to encourage higher growth, especially supported by the technology they developed.

In the distribution process, they also take advantage of the food delivery ecosystem in their respective destination countries. As in Indonesia, they partner with GoFood and Grab Food for food ordering and delivery.

In addition, at Indonesia SaladStop! also collaborated with cloud kitchen operators to help them produce food for customers. KitaKitchen is the platform they are currently working with.

By reducing the burden on the operational side, food product developer brands tend to be more agile in product innovation and expansion.

The ever-expanding distribution of cloud kitchen providers is also an opportunity for players to expand their market share in the midst of shifting customer habits after the pandemic. This is evident, throughout the pandemic, over 50% of SaladStop sales! generated online.

“We have built extensive infrastructure across the region over the past few years and will continue to leverage our proprietary cloud kitchen technology capabilities and operating model to accelerate our growth in emerging markets,” added SaladStop’s Chief Growth Officer! Frantz Braha.

Similar Business Concept in Indonesia

Hangry, Foodstory, Legit Group, and several other local players have actually adopted a similar business model, namely “multi-brand cloud kitchen”.

Through mini outlets scattered in various cities, some of which do not even provide a dine-in option, they present several food brands at once into one ordering option.

For example Hangry!, in their shop they provide several food options ranging from Moon Chicken, San Gyu, Kopi Dari Pada, and Chicken Koplo.

From the user side, this multi-brand model also presents its own advantages. In one order, they can get a variety of food items from different brands — including saving on shipping costs.

The good market acceptance has also opened the eyes of venture capitalists to work on this industrial line. East Ventures invested in Legit Group, while Alpha JWC Ventures also supported Hangry! since its debut.

The current business model seems to be a “template” for the next generation of culinary entrepreneurs. Apart from enabling them to move agilely to expand their business area, market acceptance is also an important aspect that is now starting to take shape.

On the other hand, the infrastructure that accommodates these businesses is also being deepened. For example, ordering services are now not only focused on the Grab-Gojek duo, other platforms such as Shopee and Traveloka are starting to improve the quality of their food delivery services.

The challenge is precisely how food entrepreneurs create brands that are relevant to the market share in Indonesia – in order to present quality food products at affordable costs.