We decided to stay
It all started in February 2020.
We are a group of 4 friends coming from Portugal and Switzerland and we were lucky enough to be able to travel to the beautiful island of Lombok this year.
We fell in love with the Island, the people, and their culture.
Soon COVID-19 started to change things and we had to make a hard decision.
Going back to the safety of our homes and countries or stay in Lombok where things would be uncertain and challenging.
We decided to stay!
With our extended stay, we started realising that things were not only challenging for us but mainly for the Sasak community. Restaurants closed, hotels got empty, tours and flights got canceled and slowly, this beautiful Island started to be forgotten. The local communities started to suffer from the lack of visits and income from tourism.
As tourists went back home, the talented artisans of Lombok had no way to sell their products anymore.
In other parts of the world, online selling is an easy alternative to the lack of clients. Unfortunately, the people from the villages of Lombok don't have the resources and knowledge needed to offer their products online.
Because of that, we decided to become the bridge between the people of Lombok and the outside world by creating a marketplace where the locals can share their unique products with the rest of the world!
The story behind "SASAK MARKET"
our values
Socially
responsible
Sasak Market’s main goal is to help the people that so kindly received us during our trip to Indonesia. In Europe and other parts of the world, we are very privileged but that is not the reality of places like Lombok. It’s our intention to give back and support Indonesia in the best way we can.
Ecologically responsible
All our products use sustainable and natural resources found and produced in Indonesia. Indonesian people have a self-sustainable mindset and we intend to share those values with our products. All our products are vegan, eco-friendly and 100% plastic-free.
Economically responsible
In the times that we are living, due to COVID-19, online selling is the only way to generate some income in the selling business. Our main goal is to make sure that the talented people of Indonesia have a fair way to economically compete with other parts of the world during these hard times that we are living in.