We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christnawaty Lim & Yohanes Ng a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Christnawaty & Yohanes, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
We are a team of two, and we were both born and raised in Indonesia. Bakso is one of our favorite Indonesian street food that is difficult to find abroad, and especially here in the Bay Area. A few of you might know, but two of the longest running Indonesian restaurants in the Bay have recently closed their doors ,making Indonesian treats an even harder find.
Our business started to really bloom right when the pandemic hit, but even then we stayed motivated to try to recreate the bakso that we both remember and love from our childhood in Indonesia.
It took us some time, and a lot of patience and recipe development, but we finally had a bakso recipe we both loved.
At first, we would give several bowls here and there to our friends and families, requesting honest and constructive feedback. We received a number of suggestions, critiques, as well as praise.
Following several rounds of recipe updates, we finally developed our current signature D’Grobak recipe, which everyone agreed was just like the bakso we remember from home. With the love and support of our friends and families, we took the plunge and began selling our signature bakso to our closest relatives.
We wanted to introduce bakso to the SF Bay Area, and we hoped that Indonesian street food will grow to be loved here. As we sold more and more bowls of bakso, compliments and suggestions continue to pour in, which we really took to heart. We continued to improve our bakso recipe, and as our business grew, we expanded our efforts to find more eco-friendly and sustainable packaging too. And of course, our number one priority is the customers’ overall experience with D’Grobak quality.
We will always continue to move forward with new ideas and improvements, with a dedication to providing the best customer experience possible.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Bio about us : Yohanes was born and raised in West Borneo ( Pontianak city), Indonesia. After graduating from culinary school, he moved to the US and pursued his culinary passions and career. His love of Japanese food kick started his career, and he garnered over a decade of experience crafting exceptional sushi dishes.
Yohanes has always dreamt of opening his own restaurant one day. He grew up in a family that runs a food business, at first from a modest “Gerobak”(foodcart), but as their business grew, they expanded to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Yohanes’ grandfather is a chef and that inspired him to delve into the food industry ever since a young age.
Our brand D’Grobak (read : the grow buck) also inspired by Yohanes’ family story, and we loved Indonesian street food that most of them are selling from gerobak or wheel push foodcart.
Christna was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. Christna is the key social media coordinator for D’grobak and is the person behind all the IG posts and stories, as well as your customer service representative. Christna has lots of experience in the hospitality industry, having helped her own mom with her small business back in Indonesia and after spending 12 years in the airline industry in Hongkong. Of all the hats she wears though, the most important one is as a mom to their 3 year old toddler!
Why we want to sell Bakso ?
Bakso is one of our favorite Indonesian street food that is difficult to find abroad, and especially here in the Bay Area. A few of you might know, but two of the longest running Indonesian restaurants in the Bay have recently closed their doors ,making Indonesian treats an even harder find.
Our business started to really bloom right when the pandemic hit, but even then we stayed motivated to try to recreate the bakso that we both remember and love from our childhood in Indonesia.
It took us some time, and a lot of patience and recipe development, but we finally had a bakso recipe we both loved.
What is Bakso? BAKSO read : buck-so
Bakso, is Indonesia’s national street food, a go-to dish sold from pushcarts to hungry students, midnight revelers and just about anybody who wants a satisfying snack any time of day. Bakso is the type of meal that Indonesian people can enjoy as a meal or snacks , you can enjoy bakso anytime either for breakfast or lunch or dinner.
Bakso is a popular meatball soup in Indonesia. Although bakso is essentially street food, it can be found anywhere from outdoor eateries to elegant restaurants.
Our best selling item now is : Bakso Iga Bakar
Sweet and spicy grilled braised Angus beef rib serve with signature homemade bakso, 16 hours of slow cooked bone marrow beef broth, vegetables , and mixed noodles.
and our all time favorite is : D’Grobak Signature Bakso
signature homemade bakso ( included 1 special quail egg Bakso) ,16 hours slow cooked bone marrow beef broth, Bakso tofu, beef tendon, grilled dice beef steak, vegetables , and mixed noodles. it’s delicous, nutritious and flavourful.
Where to find us ?
We are now having a permanent pop up schedule in Presidio Tunnel Tops Park, San Francisco.
Every Wednesday and Saturday from 11AM – 4PM (or till sold out)
other schedule we will participating in some food festival, schedule updated in our Instagram : @dgrobak.bayarea
We also ship our bakso nationwide.
We do have some collaboration with other business, such as with INDOMIE USA, and any other small business too.
We’ve been featured in some local media , here is the link:
KQED news: https://www.kqed.org/arts/13908798/bakso-indonesian-street-food-noodle-soup-dgrobak-richmond
VOA Indonesia :
https://www.voaindonesia.com/a/d-grobak-bakso-ala-gerobak-abang-abang-di-richmond-california/6270261.html
CNN Indonesia : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkZuslkpcFM
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
When we started in May 2020, Yohanes still had his full time job in sushi catering company. At that time when the pandemic hit, we had shelter in place, Christna just moved permanently to the USA after she resigned from her job in HongKong and thats how we started to open a pre-order for bakso.
We started from home kitchen, and we had the pre-order for our bakso that delivered through the Bay Area with some min order. Yohanes incharge in productions, inventory, cooking ; meanwhile Christna doing the administration, taking order manually on that time, follow up with customers , creating content for social media, etc. And both of us split the location for the delivery. Our first couple weeks of pre-order was sold out in 48 hours. We’re excited and motivated at the same time, and we started to apply licensed , selling permit and looking for a commercial kitchen for maximise the production capacity.
We received lots of tremendous compliments that gave us huge motivation. From Indonesians who miss their home, we’re so glad that our Bakso brings back a little bit of their childhood and home. Customers who have been to Indonesia said that our Bakso reminds them of their trip. Last but not least, our customers whose first Bakso experience were with ours said that it tastes so comforting and nourishing .
We’re getting more exposure by participating in some festival such as Foodieland, and some of the brewery reached out to us to do some pop up at their place, some of media also reach out to us, so we see the good opportunity of selling Bakso / Indonesian street food since nobody offer here in The Bay Area.
After that, Yohanes decided to quit his job and full time in D’Grobak. We started to focus and do more events, hopefully one day we will have brick and mortar or a food truck that can grow our business and introduce more about Indonesian street food the The Bay Area foodlover.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Influencer partnerships: Partnering with popular fitness influencers to showcase the products n action can help reach a wider audience and build credibility for the product.
Sponsored events: Sponsoring local events and setting up a booth to showcase the products can help create brand awareness and allow potential customers to try the bakso
Social media advertising: Running targeted ads on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook can help reach a specific audience interested in food and culture about Indonesia.
Giveaway programs
The benefit of these marketing ideas is that they can help create buzz around , increase brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales. By utilizing a variety of marketing tactics, the brand and products can reach a larger audience and appeal to food lover in The Bay Area.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dgrobakbayarea.com
- Instagram: @dgrobak.bayarea
- Facebook: DGrobak Bay Area