Krakakoa

For years, Sabrina Mustopo traveled the world helping businesses run sustainable farming programs. In 2013, she put her own advice into action and launched Krakakoa, a company which makes chocolate bars and powders sourced from about 1,000 farmers in her home province of Lampung on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Sabrina manages a team of 60 people, and her products are stocked in more than 135 stores in Indonesia and around the world — from Singapore to Belgium. With strong demand, a growing online presence, and a small back-end system, Sabrina says Krakakoa needed a more efficient customer engagement system.

In November 2018, she turned to the WhatsApp Business app to run her company’s sales operation.

Krakakoa credits the private messaging service with a 40 percent boost in orders and says revenue has grown by 40 percent during the same time, adding that her team is better able to field global requests via the app.

The WhatsApp Business app’s labels feature helps this artisanal chocolatier — whose bestsellers include cacao nibbles and chocolate bars with herbs, chili and black pepper — identify new and existing customers. Also, the away messages feature means Krakakoa can more actively connect with its global clientele.

Customers also like interacting with Krakakoa via WhatsApp.

“It is more direct than sending them a message via their online website... [It is] extremely efficient,” says a customer who orders Krakakoa items from the United States.

As the world’s third largest cocoa producer, Sabrina believes Indonesia should be more competitive and its farmers better recognized. And through Krakakoa, she is sharing her province’s best offerings with chocolate lovers in Indonesia and beyond.