S3E5 | We Don’t Build Restaurants, We Buy Them | DailyCo’s 100 K

What happens when a founder thinks long-term in a trend-chasing industry? In this episode of “Hard Truths by Vertex,” I sat down with Kelvin Subowo, the founder and CEO of DailyCo—Indonesia’s fastest-growing multi-brand F&B company. We talked about his journey from launching a single rice box brand to building a business that serves millions of meals every month. He shared how acquisitions, not hype, drive sustainable growth, and why he always keeps the original founders involved. This one’s all about consistency, strategy, and feeding a nation—literally.

Discussion Topics: We Don’t Build Restaurants, We Buy Them

• What makes a founder truly worth backing?
• Is acquisition the smartest way to scale F&B?
• Are you building for the long term—or a trend?
• Why most restaurants don’t last beyond two years
• Daily comfort food or flashy menus—what really sells?
• The share of belly strategy you’ve never heard of
• Why food and beverage are totally different beasts
• What Indonesia’s food future looks like—through cloud kitchens
• The secret sauce behind DailyCo’s survival
• Offline margins vs online commissions—what’s the real deal?
• Why restaurants need soul—and founders bring it
• This is what founder-first acquisition really looks like
• How a war accidentally led to a new business
• How DailyCo ended up catering for Vertex’s big events
• 100,000 meals a day—now what?
• Why no brand has 5,000 outlets in Indonesia
• How to sell regional food across a country that doesn’t know it exists

Our Guest: Kelvin Subowo

Kelvin Subowo is the Co-Founder & CEO at DailyCo. He attended Universitas Tarumanagara (Untar) in 2011. The Daily Company (DailyCo) is Indonesia’s fastest-growing multi-brand F&B operator, delivering high-quality, scalable, and innovative dining solutions for individuals, businesses, and institutions. The company’s portfolio includes famous brands such as Dailybox, Antarasa, Breadlife, Lu’miere, Ayam Blenger PSP, HiGeorge!, Tempong PNS, and others. From quick-service meals to large-scale catering and enterprise F&B management, DailyCo makes delicious food accessible and effortless for Indonesian families.