Strengthen the Japanese-style Premium Cake Business, Mandiri Capital Invests Funds into DORÉ by LeTAO

PT Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), a venture capital company owned by Bank Mandiri, has officially injected funds into DORÉ by LeTAO, an Indonesian company that presents premium Japanese-style cakes. This investment is MCI's first investment step this year. (Photo: Aris Nurjani/VOI)

JAKARTA - PT Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), a venture capital company owned by Bank Mandiri, has officially injected funds into DORÉ by LeTAO, an Indonesian company that presents premium Japanese-style cakes. This investment is MCI's first investment step this year.

MCI President Director Ronald Samuel Simorangkir, explained that the funds disbursed to DORÉ will be used for branch expansion needs in the next three to five years.

"The need for Dore is certainly for the next 3 or 5 years for branch expansion, machine rejuvenation, or repairs to support the increase in production capacity," he told the media, Thursday, August 13.

He emphasized that MCI is now implementing a more measured investment approach, with a clear plan for the use of proceeds for each outlet.

"To provide investment, we must have what we call the use of proceeds must be clear. So every store, for example, how many billion, yes, well, we must have calculations in the business plan," he said.

Ronald added that the agreement was also approved by the DORÉ party. "If the Dore party also does not agree to its use, yes, they do not want to be regulated, we will not deal with it," he said.

In this investment, Ronald said that MCI positioned itself as a minority shareholder. "Our ownership of Dore is still minority, we will not be the majority. Our ownership for the next investment is also 15 percent to 20 percent," he explained.

He also said that MCI was the first external investor to enter after the founders. "We are the first external investor after the founders who invest here. The form is a shareholding, so we are on the list of shareholders after the founders." he said.

Meanwhile, MCI Finance Director Wisnu Setiadi, said that his party targets healthy DORÉ business growth, not too aggressive growth.

"We also don't want to grow too fast. Yes, growing relatively healthily is what we want," he said.

He added that DORÉ is different from other business actors in Indonesia because of its consistency. "Dore's commitment has been tested, not just for a few months, but for more than a decade, their focus is on pursuing perfection and continuous improvement," he said.

According to him, with this commitment it will be easier to convince local and foreign investors.

"I think this is indeed a typical Japanese culture that I mentioned earlier as Shokunin Kishitsu (craftsman spirit), and Dore has been running for 11-12 years, so it can no longer be called a startup, but a mature F&B company," he explained.

Wisnu said Dore's expansion focus remained in Jakarta because of the high purchasing power of the community. "The main focus must always be Jakarta, because the purchasing power is always the highest there," he said.

He added that the determination of the location of the new outlets also utilizes transaction data from the Bank Mandiri ecosystem. "We can see from how the independent ecosystem likes to have many interlocks and transactions, both from debit and credit cards," he said.

Co-founder and CEO of DORÉ, Andy Pangestu, said that one of the main benefits of collaborating with MCI is support for increased production capacity.

"One thing we want to focus on is actually upgrading our production facilities. That's one thing we're very excited about, because that's what will really differentiate us from others," he said.

He highlighted the research and development (R&D) experience of LeTAO, which has been established for more than 70 years as a strategic advantage for DORÉ.

"This is R&D that has been going on for years. If you want to learn, you can, but it takes years to get it," he said.

In addition to increasing production facilities, Andy said that investment funds would also be used for expansion into new cities outside Jakarta.

"We are only in Jakarta and its surroundings, so the whole of Indonesia is still very large. Let's see which one is suitable for us to open there," he said.

In terms of product lines, Andy explained that currently the company has two brands, namely DORÉ by LeTAO and DORÉ C.

"DORÉ by LeTAO is a retail shop, while Dore C is a semi-cafe where we sell coffee and various variants of cheesecake," he explained.

He added that DORÉ C provides derivative products from the cheesecake series as an alternative for consumers who want to taste the product in small portions.

"We also make coffee, matcha, Japanese-style crepes, to slice cakes. This is a place for people who want to try DORÉ products in small portions, because if you buy it at a retail store you usually have to buy a whole cake," he said.