In this day and age, dairy and its derivatives have become increasingly prominent in the daily consumption of Indonesians, despite a 2021 research indicating that 66% of adults in Indonesia have lactose intolerance. Furthermore, the dairy industry is a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis.
With this in mind, Jakarta Vegan Guide organized Generasi Dairy-Free Festival, the first-ever dairy-free and plant-based festival in Asia to showcase a fully vegan marketplace featuring more than 40 brands that successfully satiated thousands of visitors with a wide variety of plant-based food, sweets, desserts, ice cream, gelato, coffee dan other beverages as well as health and wellness experience. The event took place on September 22-25, 2022, at Tribeca Park, Central Park Mall Jakarta, and was open to the public.
“We made sure that our selection of tenants, especially the food and beverage stalls, catered to various dietary restrictions, such as gluten-free, nut-free, and sugar-free,” says Jakarta Vegan Guide co-founder Firmansyah Mastup. “We aim to dispel the myth that dairy-free creations are impossible to realize and the common assumption that these creations are boring, tasteless, and unappetizing. Therefore, we picked only prominent brands we were sure everyone would enjoy.”
Most excitingly, Generasi Dairy-Free Festival hosted the Alternative Milk Latte Art Competition or AMLAC, the first-ever alternative milk latte art competition in Indonesia, sponsored by several high-profile alternative milk brands, including Oatly, Milk Lab, V-Soy, and Orasi. Using the throwdown system in the preliminary round and then the scoring system in the final round, AMLAC’s panel of judges, led by ILAC 2019-2021 winner Restu Hadam Hasan and accompanied by Edo Huang and Azi Kardian Wicaksono, selected Lutfi Maulana, Ega Riandi, and Benedict Giovaldo as the first, second and third winner of the competition, respectively.
Meanwhile, spearheaded by Mad for Coffee, one of the pioneers in dairy-free coffee creations in Jakarta, Alternative Milk Coffee Experience or AMCE featured a host of coffee chains that embraced alternative milk products at their stores.
“With the rise of veganism and the alternative milk industry in Indonesia, we believe that coffee chains everywhere must have at least one alternative milk option in their line-up,” reasons Jakarta Vegan Guide co-founder and Generasi Dairy-Free Festival initiator Chandra Revo. “Through this festival, and particularly events such as AMLAC and AMCE, we wanted to encourage coffee chains in Indonesia to provide more dairy-free products in their menu, including non-dairy coffee as well as plant-based snacks, sweets and light bites, if not also the main dishes.”
Revo also notes that these initiatives are significant given Indonesia’s rising coffee culture and almost 90% of the Asian population lactose intolerant. “AMLAC wanted to challenge baristas across Indonesia who are already used to crafting dairy-based coffee beverages and use alternative milk in their practice,” he adds.
He continues, “On the other hand, AMCE also aimed to assist coffee chains that already offered plant milk-based products to get proper exposure and reach a wider audience by showcasing their products at Generation Dairy-Free Festival.”
In addition to promoting the benefits and convenience of dairy-free and plant-based living, Generasi Dairy-Free Festival’s grand mission was to educate and encourage the masses to be more socially responsible and environmentally friendly, as well as improve animal welfare in the process.
