Rapidly-growing Indonesian multi-brand F&B operator DailyCo announced its acquisition of Wadah Kuliner (Waku), a local F&B company that has become the country’s market leader when it comes to comprehensive catering and canteen management services for corporate and government clients.
The strategic acquisition is designed to bolster DailyCo’s capabilities in providing scalable and innovative dining solutions to businesses and institutions across Indonesia.
The Waku brand will continue operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of DailyCo, retaining its existing partners, systems, and customer base.
Integration efforts will focus on unlocking operational synergies across kitchen infrastructure, procurement, supply chain, and enterprise sales, while enhancing workforce development and internal alignment.
Over the past several weeks, DailyCo also signed a noteworthy deal with the Ministry of Religious Affairs to begin supplying Indonesia’s Hajj Pilgrimage with pre-packaged meals, representing a significant new revenue channel for the business.
The agreement marks an important new chapter for the merged entity.
The high-volume, high-complexity nature of the contract is seen as a proving ground for DailyCo’s ability to serve national-scale institutional clients with operational excellence.
With this acquisition, DailyCo now manages one of the largest institutional catering networks in the country, positioning itself at the forefront of an F&B segment that is increasingly driven by consolidation, digitization, and evolving workplace expectations.
Investing in people
As part of the acquisition, Waku founder and CEO Anthony Gunawan was formally appointed Chief HR Officer (CHRO) at DailyCo.
DailyCo Founder and CEO Kelvin Subowo said: “At DailyCo, we don’t just acquire businesses—we invest in people. From the outset, we saw exceptional potential in Anthony’s ability to build and scale a high-impact team grounded in world-class company culture practices. The strength of Waku’s internal culture was a key driver of its operational excellence, and we knew that bringing Anthony on as CHRO would be critical to replicating that success across the broader DailyCo as a group.”
For his part, Gunawan said: “Joining DailyCo opens up new possibilities to expand our impact, while keeping our mission and brand DNA intact. Together, we’re not only building a larger business, we’re also raising the bar for how institutional meals can be delivered: with consistency, care, and scale.”
The acquisition is a key step in DailyCo’s push to lead Indonesia’s institutional food services sector, a fast-growing but highly fragmented market traditionally dominated by smaller, localized providers.
With increased demand for safety, reliability, and nutritional standards in workplace and institutional dining, DailyCo is strategically expanding its B2B footprint by acquiring high-performing businesses with strong operational infrastructure, with Waku serving as a prime example.
That said, DailyCo remains actively focused on identifying strategic M&A opportunities that align with its mission to feed the nation.
Serving a booming market
Established in 2017, Waku offers an array of services, including daily meals, snack boxes, buffets, coffee breaks, pantry supplies, and more.
Among its primary corporate entities are the likes of Lazada, Bank Central Asia, BRI Group, Mandiri Group, and Tokopedia, and the company has also catered for large-scale events such as the FIFA World Cup.
The B2B catering market in Jakarta and West Java alone is a US$62 billion opportunity. In recent years,
Waku has clocked an 88 percent YoY growth in revenue and reached EBITDA positivity, serving more than 10 million meals annually to over 658 clients across 20 cities in Indonesia, maintaining a 98 percent repeat order rate.
The company partners with over 60 kitchens and features a menu selection of more than 15,000 options, catering to diverse dietary preferences and event requirements.
