Traditional Food As Indonesian Identity And Branding In Accredited Countries

By Tonny Hendriawan-Director of Indonesia Trade Promotion Center Johannesburg

21 February 2023

There are many ways to become known and famous outside the environment that becomes our daily life. It has become an instinct that humans are always adaptive and dynamic, being known and famous is a necessity for individuals or humans as social beings. Humans as individuals have the instinct to appear before other individuals and before a group or a community. Introducing yourself and then becoming known by a wider group will have a beneficial impact on individual human goals.

The positive impact that can be taken after being known and famous will provide a strong positioning in determining the desired strategic steps going forward. For this reason, there must be a strategy for each individual, group and nation to be recognized through a distinctive identity that can be eye-catching for other parties.

A group of individuals will form a group and so on so that it becomes a very large community including a country or even a group of countries. Every country has national interests that must be fought for and continuously strengthened so that the set national goals can be achieved. Indonesia as a nation has a lot of uniqueness that can be eye-catching for other nations. These uniqueness must be processed in such a way as to become a concern for other nations. One of Indonesia's uniqueness that is well known to the world is its culinary uniqueness. Almost all international media have reported on the delicacy of Indonesian specialties, let's say the most frequently mentioned are Rendang, Sate, Fried Rice, various types of soup, chili sauce, and some packaged foods that have also become known, namely instant noodle, coconut and biscuit products. . There needs to be an integrated and serious effort to make Indonesian food exist, which has been widely mentioned in the media, into something that can be found easily in daily life.

South Africa is one of the big and influential countries in the African region, especially in the southern region of the African continent. Talking about the southern region of Africa, we are talking about an area that has a population of over 100 million people. For Indonesia, South Africa is a friendly country that has great potential to enhance cooperation in all fields, including the potential for bilateral trade between the two countries. Bilateral trade between Indonesia and South Africa in 2021 reached USD.2,801,645,158, while the January – November 2022 period had reached USD.3,038,860.272 or an increase of 27.71% when compared to the same period in 2021. However, trade between the two countries is still dominated by mineral, industrial and palm oil (Crude Palm Oil/CPO) products. For food products (also processed foods), they are still included in products whose trade value is still very small. Food products cannot be relied on to significantly affect the value of trade between the two countries, or say significantly increase the value of Indonesia's exports to South Africa, because the value is relatively small and cannot be compared to the value of mineral, industrial and palm oil products. But there are things that are more important for the existence of food products besides their value, namely identity and branding which can be immediately known from which country it is owned by. While mineral, industrial and CPO products can be traced from which country, but from a naked eye it cannot be known directly where they came from.

A country can be recognized by other countries through its characteristics, identity and branding. When talking about international food in South Africa, what is probably most often mentioned for food from the Asian region are Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Turkish, Thai restaurants, and are starting to follow Vietnam and Korea. Where is the position of Indonesian food? one could easily say the name of the food, but it would not be easy to find it, let alone taste it. It takes extra effort to find Indonesian specialties in South Africa for most people, but for Indonesian citizens who live in South Africa, of course they can still enjoy it on a household cooking scale.

When people in a country can easily find typical food from a certain country, for example a restaurant specializing in food from a certain country, then the branding of the country where the restaurant is located is relatively better known by the people in that country. Say Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai restaurants in South Africa, these countries will be much better known by the local community. For this reason, it is important for Indonesia to be able to display Indonesian specialties in accredited countries through certain restaurants and outlets. It's not easy and requires process and capital, but if it's done with focus and seriousness from all parties in Indonesia, of course gravel will be added to the dirt road and so on it will be asphalted and concreted so that the flow of the culinary business can run smoothly on it.

Bringing traditional food products to exist in a country requires integrated components. Capital, partnership, location and chef, as well as promotions are circles that must be run professionally, all of which is inseparable from the support of the central government and business circles who are able to dedicate their programs to bring Indonesian traditional food to the international world. It should also be calculated that a restaurant or whatever is capable of serving Indonesian specialties will be able to give a domino effect to other food products. As soon as Indonesian food has existed in South Africa, it will be easier for the promotion and marketing of ready-to-eat food and seasonings to find consumers, because foods such as rendang, gado-gado, satay can already be seen and enjoyed in existing Indonesian restaurants. People who want to make and cook it themselves will definitely try to use ready-to-eat seasonings which can be easily obtained in supermarkets. For Indonesian restaurants, the seasoning for food preparation will certainly remain a kitchen secret to maintain the special taste that is dedicated to the restaurant's customers.