Local Pride Drinks

- Joshua Tandiono And Ulisari Eslita

Bubble tea has become Taiwan’s most popular grab-to-go drink with anyone and everyone drinking a cup or two every week. Since its creation in the 1980s in Taiwan, bubble tea has gained global popularity with bubble tea stores popping up in countries all over the world, including Indonesia. Based on GrabFood’s data on bubble tea delivery demand in Southeast Asia, last year, the market in Indonesia grew by 8,500%, the highest in the region. In terms of consumption, it shows that each person in the country drinks at least three cups of bubble tea every month.

Seeing the trend, Gibran Rakabuming Raka–son of President Joko Widodo, together with his long-time business partners Arif Setyo Budi and Kevin Susanto decided to launch their own ready-to-go drink with a local touch called Goola last year. As a homegrown brand, Goola has to compete with global brands that first entered the Indonesian market years ago such as Quickly, Chatime and newcomers like Tiger Sugar and Xing Fu Tang.