Three Indonesian digital companies, namely Grab, Emtek and Bukalapak, launched the GrabKitchen program at Pasar Gede.

The cloud kitchen concept that unites micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) further strengthens Pasar Gede on the west side as one of the culinary centers of Solo City.

The Mayor of Solo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, when opening the event, Thursday, said that the existence of a variety of culinary delights in the area further revived Pasar Gede, which is actually a traditional market. The hope is that it will grow and attract the attention of young visitors. Moreover, a number of well-known culinary brands sell a lot on the second floor of the market.

Support from the Solo City Government has also been carried out starting from market arrangement to fulfilling facilities according to visitor needs. For example, a clean market, digital payments, as well as collaboration with a number of large companies such as Grab, Emtek, and Bukalapak.

Furthermore, he hopes that the presence of GrabKitchen will further support the ecosystem there so that they can encourage each other to grow together. In the future, the same development is expected to be followed by other traditional markets.

“Pasar Gede is very well known. Plus a culinary center like now, hopefully it will get busier. Can live until the night. So young people don’t want to go to traditional markets. We prove that the traditional market is also clean and there are many well-known brands here. This is amazing. Hopefully all traditional markets will follow the development. But for now, the focus is on digital transactions first,” said Gibran.

GrabKitchen itself is part of the #KotaMasaDepan program. Apart from Solo, they have developed GrabKitchen in more than 100 places throughout Indonesia. GrabKitchen leverages data to identify and map customer demand gaps. The hope is that culinary SMEs are better known by the public and can increase sales opportunities.

On the same occasion, Grab handed over 400 electric motorbikes to GrabBike driver-partners and Grab delivery partners in Solo.

The effort to strengthen the electric vehicle ecosystem was handed over directly by the President of Grab Indonesia, Ridzki Kramadibrata to the Mayor of Surakarta, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

“Since 2019, we have put the company’s focus on developing an electric vehicle ecosystem through the #LangkahHijau commitment in Indonesia. Today we are very proud to be able to help the Surakarta city government again to develop a Solo Smart City by utilizing Grab‘s inclusive technology through electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. The innovation of electric vehicles and the cloud kitchen concept is in line with GrabForGood’s mission to participate in regional development in Indonesia and use technology to create sustainable impacts for the community,” said Ridzki

To date, said Ridzi, the number of electric vehicles that have been operated by Grab Indonesia is 12,000. The operation, according to him, is equivalent to a reduction in CO2 carbon emissions of 4600 tons, or the equivalent of 260,000 trees.

“The impact of this electric vehicle is real. No less interesting, how to empower MSMEs through technology in Traditional Markets, especially culinary with cloud kitchen technology or digital Pawon in Pasar Gede. This cloud kitchen facility center is based on research data. Not only Culinary MSMEs have increased, so that people’s needs can also be met,” he said.