Southeast Asia’s F&B industry hungry for opportunities beyond delivery

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Hi there,

Some time ago, I tried to find the physical space of a pasta restaurant I often ordered from via food delivery platforms. The address was close to where I live.

However, I could not find it. Maybe I had the wrong address? Apparently not. It turned out the pasta dishes were sent out from a cloud kitchen – no wonder I couldn’t find the restaurant!

Several F&B brands in Jakarta have been using cloud kitchen over the past few years and significantly increased during the pandemic.

Cloud kitchens are a subsector of the foodtech industry, along with food delivery, which is more established. There are also players engaged in point-of-sale systems and restaurant management and reservations as well as F&B chains and alternative protein makers.

This week’s Big Story is a landscape map of Southeast Asia’s foodtech players. Apart from identifying foodtech companies across the region, I also detail the sector’s growth and the funding that has been raised to date.

Notwithstanding the current economic climate, investors still seem interested in backing foodtech startups. Legit Group, Uena, iSeller, Runchise, and Wahyoo are among those that have secured new capital in recent months.

Meanwhile, in this week’s Hot Take, I look at the reasons why used-car marketplace Cars24 exited Indonesia recently. Stiff competition is likely one of them.

— Jofie

THE BIG STORY

Mapping SEA’s food tech players: Startups seize opportunities beyond food delivery

Image credit: Timmy Loen

The last three years have been important for the foodtech scene. The pandemic – and the succeeding economic recovery – have changed the landscape.

THE HOT TAKE

Making sense of Cars24’s exit from Indonesia

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