Catering business thrives as people opt for boxed meals
Catering business thrives as people opt for boxed meals
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
When you are single and working in Jakarta like Ima Alimah,
chances are you don't have enough time or energy to cook your own
meals, which is fine most of the time as take-outs are easily
found on almost every street corner.
But during the fasting month at 3 a.m. when you are trying to
find hot food for your sahur (pre-dawn meal), food vendors can be
trickier to find.
That situation prompted Ima to resort to order rantangan --
set meals delivered daily to your home in stacked containers, or
rantang.
"Living on my own, it's easier for me to have meals delivered
for sahur," said Ima, who works for Australian-based IT and
telecommunications company Qdc. She pays Rp 10,000 (about US$1)
for each meal sent to her rented room in Setiabudi, South
Jakarta.
Citing the same reason -- convenience -- Aldy Setiadi, who
lives with his brother in Bintaro, Tangerang, also orders
rantangan.
"It's not only during the fasting month. Both myself and my
brother are away at school most of the day, so we order
rantangan," he said, explaining that it was just a matter of
moving back the time of the delivery to later in the afternoon in
time for breaking the fast during the fasting month.
Rantangan is not a new concept, and for busy individuals or
families where both parents work, such meals can be a simple
solution to the food problem, particularly during the fasting
month.
Iki Setiadi Priyoena, owner of Dian Catering, which delivers
meals in the Bintaro area, says that the number of his customers
normally doubles during the fasting month.
"Usually during the fasting month domestic helpers go back to
their hometowns, so their employers have no choice but to order
rantangan to get them through the month," he told The Jakarta
Post.
Iki said that Dian Catering offers three types of rantangan
packages -- small, medium and large -- designed for both
individual customers and families. The small package consists of
rice and three different side dishes, while the medium and large
packages consist of rice and four different side dishes.
"The difference is that the amount of food is bigger in the
large package so that it can serve three to five people," he
said, explaining that the large package was also large enough to
be eaten by a small family for both the breaking of the fast and
for sahur.
For the fasting month this year, Dian Catering has already
received orders from 95 households, Iki said, adding that the
business usually serves between 125 and 130 regular customers a
year.
Big caterers are also getting a windfall this fasting month
with more and more companies organizing breaking of the fast
gatherings for their employees and business colleagues.
Peni Catering in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, for example,
recently received an order over ten days for breaking of the fast
and sahur gatherings from a private television station.
"As part of the order, we'll be supplying 800 boxed meals for
the breaking of the fast gatherings and 200 for sahur," Aan
Hermanto, owner of Peni Catering explained, adding that she
charges a minimum of Rp 22,000 per breaking of the fast boxed
meal, and Rp 15,000 for the pre-dawn boxed meal.
Meanwhile, Rosa Catering in Bintaro has so far received 18
orders for company breaking of the fast gatherings this year.
"We usually get about 40 such orders per year, sometimes
catering for two or three events a day," owner Sri Soediono said.