When you order food through Gojek or Grab in Indonesia, you're not just getting dinner delivered, but you're also participating in what has become a sophisticated digital platform economy. These food apps have fundamentally transformed how millions of Indonesians eat, shop, and navigate daily life, while generating billions in revenue for tech unicorns that now rival traditional media conglomerates in their cultural influence.

But how exactly are these online food platforms reshaping Indonesian society? And what happens when we compare their impact across different cultural and economic contexts? A fascinating new study by Nadia Egalita, a PhD researcher at RMIT, offers insights into these questions through comparative ethnographic research conducted in Surabaya and Melbourne.

Egalita's research reveals striking disparities in how online food delivery operates across class lines in Indonesia. While upper-middle-class families with domestic workers and dual kitchen systems allow children to order multiple meals daily, lower-middle-class households use these platforms primarily as treats for kids. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, rising costs have made food delivery a luxury that forces people back into their kitchens, challenging assumptions about technology inevitably replacing traditional cooking practices.

Using innovative “digital walkthrough” methods that examine participants' actual ordering histories alongside their stated preferences, Egalita uncovers the gap between what people say they eat and what they actually consume. Her findings challenge common narratives about digital platforms isolating users, instead revealing how families bond over scrolling through menus and negotiating meal choices together.

The research also offers fresh perspectives on platform capitalism, digital labor conditions, and the changing nature of domestic life in Indonesia and Australia. We'll explore how these seemingly simple convenience apps are actually reshaping everything from kitchen design to intergenerational relationships, while examining the regulatory challenges posed by Indonesia's growing platform oligarchy.

In 2025, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Tito Ambyo from RMIT, and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.