Hangry flies the cloud kitchen flag as recession beckons

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Hi readers,

When I have casual chats with founders and investors in the Indonesian startup scene, a topic that always comes up is the recession and which company or sectors will thrive during this unpredictable economic situation. A founder even told me that his employees asked more than 20 recession-related questions at their last town hall.

Of course, I don’t know the exact answer, as I don’t have a magic ball to predict the future.

However, early observations showed that food-related businesses may survive. In hard times, people tend to keep their spending on food, rather than other luxury things.

That may also be the reason there is strong demand around agriculture, fishery, cold storage, and e-grocery startups, as well as cloud kitchens, which can be seen as the “last mile” in the entire food supply chain.

For example, the financial report of Indonesia-based cloud kitchen Hangry shows that its operating margin improved, as its revenue grew faster compared to its expenses. The startup is still only three years old, but its gross margin last year matched the figures of India-based cloud kitchen firm Rebel Foods.

Amid the worry of inflation and gas price hikes, will the same positive trend continue for Hangry and other cloud kitchen providers in the country?

— Aditya, journalist at Tech in Asia

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