Eden Farm is a startup with the formidable purpose of constructing a meals distribution community for Indonesia, the place many eating places at present depend on markets for contemporary elements.
But this implies excessive markups and unreliable provides for restaurant homeowners and decrease earnings for farmers, co-founder and CEO David Gunawan tells TechCrunch. The firm, a part of Y Combinator’s present batch, desires to assist each by simplifying the provision chain, making certain secure pricing and decreasing meals waste. Eden Farm at present focuses on contemporary produce and non-perishable gadgets, however plans to increase its product line to meat and seafood, too.
The firm launched in 2017 and now provides produce from 60 farmers to greater than 200 eating places in six main cities: Jakarta, Tangerang, South Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok and Bogor. Eden Farm is at present elevating an oversubscribed seed spherical. Gunawan says the goal was initially meant to be $1 million, however has now elevated to $1.75 million. Investors embrace Y Combinator and Everhaus.
Eden Farm began as a farm, however whereas speaking to different farmers and researching the agricultural market, its founders realized there have been many issues with meals distribution in Indonesia.
“Every restaurant in Indonesia faces a huge problem with supply, stability and extreme price volatility,” Gunawan says. “Fruit and vegetable prices can go up and down around 30% to 50% every day. In peak season, for certain commodities, prices can go up ten times, like chilis in the summer.”
Eden Farm tackles the issue of provide and demand with a cell app that provides demand forecasts to farmers to allow them to plan their subsequent harvests. Traditionally, farmers don’t promote produce on to eating places, Gunawan says. Instead, their harvest goes by a number of layers of middlemen earlier than arriving at markets.
Eden Farm working with farmers in Indonesia
Eden Farm is ready to guarantee value stability and likewise enable farmers to make extra revenue by buying produce wholesale from them. On the demand facet, Eden Farm’s worth proposition consists of high quality management. Before produce is delivered to eating places, it’s inspected and washed. Gunawan says eating places usually need to dispose round 30% of the produce they buy from markets, however Eden Farm has a 100% assure and can refund the worth of any produce that’s unusable. It additionally companions with two giant markets in Jakarta to assist provide giant portions of greens and guarantee there are sufficient provides throughout peak season. Gunawan says Eden Farm’s high quality management will help save eating places as much as 50%.
Eden Farm desires to construct a community much like Sysco, the American meals distribution large, nevertheless it has to resolve a number of issues distinctive to Indonesia.
“We are serving a very traditional industry. Farmers already have their own way of planting and their own culture, which has lasted for generations, and we’re trying to change that,” says Gunawan. “At first we didn’t know how to talk to them, how to convince them, but we learned a lot about how to pay respect to farmers. Every time we go to a village, for example, we know how to present, who to pay respects to, like the elders there. We have to do that before the elders will introduce us to the farmers in the area.”
The firm at present handles about half of its deliveries in-house and makes use of third-party logistics suppliers for the remainder. Most produce is sourced from farms near the place it’s offered so it may be delivered in lower than 24 hours, however Eden Farms goes additional for some greens. For instance, potatoes are bought from farms in Central Java, whereas carrots come from North Sumatra.
Eden Farm works largely with small, conventional farms, nevertheless it additionally carries produce like lettuce and kale from hydroponic farms. After ending Y Combinator, Gunawan says the startup will start specializing in increasing into 5 new cities: Bandung, Surabaya, Bali, Medan and Malang. As its order volumes improve, the corporate will start specializing in…
