For the health-conscious and those with dietary restrictions, a trip to regular supermarkets can often be a repetitive and lengthy process of scouring from aisle to aisle, flipping over products and quickly scanning through descriptions only to put them back as they don’t quite meet their needs.
Growell Whole Foods, which first opened in 2021 in Senopati, has been trying to curb that dilemma and provide more healthy options at its one-stop grocery store. From fresh, organic produce and fine foods, to sulphates-free beauty and wellness products, shoppers can conveniently stroll around and find a wide range of items catered to this lifestyle or even for the curious to try out.
Now expanding their influence to Pondok Indah, co-founder Rosalinda Tijoe marks, “The space at our first store is very limited. But here, we see it as our flagship where we can do more things in tandem with our desire to build a healthy community.”
The larger space, designed by Seniman Ruang, expectedly comes with more variety and new features. For one, there’s the wellness bar that holds a wide lineup of healthy beverages, including immune shots, jamu, superfood smoothies and plant-based coffee as well as a fresh meat and seafood section, all of which were not present in their first outlet.
A range of products from well-known local brands, both returning and new ones, also join the list of offerings at the Pondok Indah outlet. Organic rice that champions fair-trade practices? Sunria. Locally-sourced and sustainably processed spices? East Java & Co. Freshly made pastry with natural ingredients? Noolstrala. Gluten-free pizza? Authkitchenette.
While the bulk store isn’t exactly new to the store, the motivation still stands to encourage shoppers to bring their containers as they get their monthly stock of grains, pasta and nuts. For the latter, one can scour through the range, from macadamia and pistachio to almonds, and blend them in the provided machine to make natural nut butter.
Pushing through the aisles, one will encounter a sunlit dine-in space that mimics a glasshouse with a big starfruit tree built around it. Here sits their newly-launched hot station, offering a ready-to-eat menu developed by a Bali-based fitness nutritionist from White Labels Nutrition. The meal plates one carb, one protein and two veggies, exacting to 650 calories per serving.
“The pandemic is slowly integrating into our lives. We’ve become busy again where people may have no time to cook anymore and prefer takeaways. We want to try providing warming, healthy meals where people don’t have to fuss about the calorie count,” said Rosalinda.
Woven into the grocery experience is the airy backyard, designed to be a space where events, from yoga sessions to food festivals, can happen. In tandem with Growell’s motive to build a healthy community, the Pondok Indah store serves well to accommodate both shoppers’ increasing demand for healthier products as well as an experience that caters to wholesome living.