Pepper Labs secures RM5M to expand Dapur Digital nationwide

October 20, 2024

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Dr Zaliha Mustafa, Minister in Prime Minister's Office (Federal Territories), with Dapur Digital participants PPR Wangsa Sari at the launch.

Pepper Labs is extremely grateful and honoured to receive an RM5 million funding to be allocated for the expansion of the Dapur Digital programme. This is a big win for social enterprises and a needed impetus to expand initiatives in closing the gap on poverty nationwide.

This is the first time a social enterprise has been identified as a key ally to the government in the annual National Budget - a vote of confidence as a trusted operator to expand an economic empowerment programme, which has delivered strong results through its pilot programme.

Dapur Digital is Malaysia’s first public-private-philanthropy programme in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, Federal Territories Department (Jabatan Wilayah Persekutuan), Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Yayasan Hasanah.

Dapur Digital: Cloud kitchen programme ready to scale
"With the allocation under the National Budget 2025, we will work with more partners to set up 20 Dapur Digital centres nationwide within the next few years, equipping more participants from underserved communities across the country and uplifting them into a better economic bracket," says Kuhan Pathy, President of the Social Entrepreneur Development Association and Co-Founder of Pepper Labs.

The five Dapur Digital pilot locations have to-date generated a cumulative revenue of over RM30,000. This uniquely designed programme involves refurbishing five PPR flats in Kuala Lumpur into cloud kitchens. While the cloud kitchens were being set up, within six months, 50 individuals were also trained with a Micro-Credential programme on how to operate a cloud kitchen business. This approach involves a group effort by a community of participants who use a shared premise to prepare food which is promoted and delivered through three food delivery platforms.

Government initiatives over the past five years including programmes such as the Social Enterprise Action Framework 2030, Social Enterprise Accreditation certification and the zero-interest loans from the Hasanah Social Enterprise Fund (HSEF) and social procurement initiatives - are among the key instruments that have enabled social enterprises to grow and strengthen their offerings to serve the needy. This, among others, has helped the country address absolute poverty, with rates dropping from 8.2% in 2021 to 6.2% in 2022.

Accelerating empowerment for underserved communities
PepperLabs was also a delivery partner with Khazanah Nasional for the K-Youth programme which the Prime Minister has also identified in the Budget with an allocation of RM200 million in 2025.

We believe the National Budget 2025 can turn the MADANI aspirations and RMK-12 goals into reality for the rakyat. As Malaysia takes on the ASEAN Presidency in 2025 with a theme of inclusiveness, we believe social enterprises can accelerate the equipping and enablement of underserved communities - particularly in commercial, tourism and social activities.

With this, more government linked companies or corporations can partner with social enterprises as means for them to track and report the impact of their social contributions - particularly with Scope 3 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting requirements already coming onstream with more focus on public-private-philanthropy partnerships.

Dapur Digital: Cloud kitchen - working in refurbished spaces
In the case of the pilot initiative with Dapur Digital, the refurbishment of unused spaces including shoplots and public areas was completed on-budget and in a timely manner in all five locations. "We have found this to be a highly viable means not only to lower government expenditure but also to effectively benefit more underserved communities," added Kuhan.

These cloud kitchen locations can be used as collection points for waste management projects in the future and start ups looking for addressable markets to pilot their programmes and run proof-of-concepts. Pepper Labs is a creative social innovator that’s open to partnering with tech providers to create impact in the communities it serves.

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