Since the Covid-19 pandemic hits, lots of people are stuck at their homes. Many lose their regular day jobs due to the worsened economic impact. Anna, stuck in her home all day, tries to kill her boredom by researching a new recipe for an experiment. The old hobby she needs to pick up to kill the time.
After a few trial and errors, she finally came to success with her improvised Nasi Goreng recipe. She came to wonder if other people liked her new menu as well. Reaching out to closest friends to try and ask for a feedback, it turned out most of them liked it very much, and started to place orders. And that was the beginning of everything, where the idea of kokikan was born. If people like Anna can do it, there must be other people hooked up in a hobby the same as her. The question is how to connect people like her with their neighbors.
kokikan is a food sharing platform, where consumers can download an iOS or Android app and enter their address to see meal options from nearby cooks. The dishes are prepared with high safety standards and presented with pictures along with a list of ingredients and allergen information. Once consumers decide to select a particular item, they can choose a portion size or proceed with the payment within the app. To retrieve their meals, they simply pick them up within their apartment complex lobby area or drop off to their address.
In terms of food preparation, home chefs set up a PO system by entering the minimum days required to prepare and pick up the date. Therefore, the chef can prepare and won’t be overwhelmed by last-minute orders. For example, a chef could set an open order 2 days before, to better estimate how many portions the cook needs to prepare. This way also to ensure the freshest ingredients possible for the customers.
From an online payments standpoint, kokikan supports all local payment options, beginning with traditional bank transfers, Visa, Mastercard, and ending with OVO, Dana, and Gopay. One unique feature is the ability to choose multiple chefs for multiple days in a single transaction, and the system will have cooks send the orders out in batches on the selected days. Planning ahead of time is made easier by this feature. A restaurant might not offer this convenience, since the orders would have to be placed one by one through individual transactions.
We at kokikan envisioned a better community living, by sharing our food together. A vision that empowers people who can cook, can earn an income out of it. Besides, food that tastes like home is just around the corner, although you are far away from home. Everything starts from willingness to try, so why not now?