Ta Wan Restaurant Captured By COVID-19, Trying To Survive By Selling On The Side Of The Road

JAKARTA - That afternoon at a branch office of a state-owned bank in the Bekasi City area, a queue appeared snaking up to the terrace. Not only the people who deal with the bank are seen there, but there are also two waiters selling food that is sold in the restaurant.

It is known that the waiter came from the Ta Wan restaurant. They offer a food package of IDR 30,000, which is relatively cheap when compared to dine-in at Ta Wan restaurants in malls.

Yes, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurant entrepreneur Ta Wan changed his strategy, from selling in malls or shopping centers, now changing to selling on the side of the road, door to door (from house to house), to slamming 'pick-up' prices. to the buyer.

Even though the City of Bekasi has not yet re-established Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) like in DKI Jakarta, still mall visitors cannot be as busy as they were before the pandemic hit. This also requires restaurant entrepreneurs to do "different" things to keep sales going.

The Operational Director of PT Eatwell Culinary Indonesia who oversees Ta Wan, Andrias Chandra said this was done so that his business could survive amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He explained that this strategy was only implemented after the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan decided to reimpose the strict large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) policy volume II.

This PSBB is indeed different from the first implemented in early March, where shopping centers and restaurants can operate. However, restaurants are still not allowed to serve dine-in or on-site dining.

"Yes, it is true selling door to door . We picked up the ball because the dine-in was closed. Since the PSBB was tight again on September 14, we did this strategy. That is indeed one of our efforts to be able to survive in this difficult time," he said. , when contacted by VOI , in Jakarta, Thursday, October 8.

Not only implementing a strategy of picking up the ball, Andrias said, in order to attract consumers, his party also sells food at a much cheaper price than what is sold in his restaurant.

Currently, PT Eatwell Culinary Indonesia houses several well-known restaurant brands, namely Ta Wan, Ichiban Sushi, Dapur Solo, and Eat & Eat.

"The price of food in our group is around Rp. 22,000 to Rp. 30,000 per portion. We have chosen the type of food. Because even though we do door to door , we still maintain product quality," he explained.

Furthermore, he explained, the food chosen for sale using the ball pick-up system is more durable, so it doesn't spoil quickly. In addition, the restaurant also applies a maximum of 3 hours of cooking, it must be sold. If, after 3 hours, it will no longer sell to consumers.

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Andrias explained, this type of strategy was not applied in all outlets or restaurants owned. He said this was only for outlets with dine-in restrictions in the area .

"We also run this only at outlets that are closed dine-in . Only in Jakarta," he explained.

However, Andrias' statement was refuted. Because there are also restaurant waiters in the Bekasi area who sell Ta Wan food to people with a pick-up system like this.

Even though he has been selling on such roads, Andrias admits that he cannot cover the cost of renting the mall and electricity. However, according to him, this is much better, at least the income is sufficient to increase the cost of employee salaries.

"The sales you get are not bad, but if you say you can cover all overhead costs, etc., that's not enough. At least, there will be cash in to pay employee salaries. That's our main target at this time," he said.

Even though the turnover has decreased, Andrias said, his party still supports the government program for handling the pandemic. So, his party will follow the existing rules. He hopes that this pandemic can be finished soon so that his business can return to normal.

"The purpose of selling on the street is just so that we can still open outlets , employees keep working. Instead of being laid off or laid off, we try to survive as much as possible in this way. You can see conditions in malls, or other restaurants, are more or less the same. with us, "he explained.

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