Who Is Ricardo Gelael, The Boss Of KFC Indonesia Whose Company Was Protested For Cutting Employee Wages By 30 Percent

JAKARTA - A number of workers at the fast food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Indonesia protested the company's management policy that cut wages by up to 30 percent. Protests were launched because this policy was deemed to be detrimental to workers. This wage reduction has also been carried out since April 2020.

These cuts include cutting wages and holding wages, paying holiday allowances (THR) that are not in accordance with the provisions of the KFC Collective Labor Agreement (PKB), and delaying the payment of workers' overtime wages.

However, actually this wave of protests from workers has been sticking out since November 2020. Then, the news came back after the workers reiterated their stance and visited the Ministry of Manpower.

Workers who are members of the Indonesian Workers Struggle Solidarity (SPBI) SBT PT Fast Food Indonesia Tbk (FAST) held a demonstration in front of the KFC Gelael outlet, MT Haryono, Jakarta, which is also the location of the head office, on Monday, April 12, 2021.

The workers urged the management of Fast Food Indonesia to issue a wage payment policy accordingly and return the wages that had been withheld by the company.

Overview of the establishment of Fast Food Indonesia

Reporting from the official website of KFCku.com, the company was founded by the Gelael family in 1978. FAST is the sole franchisee for the KFC brand in Indonesia. In 1979, FAST secured a franchise acquisition with the opening of its first outlet in October at Jalan Melawai in Jakarta.

In the information in the financial statements as of September 2020, a company that started its commercial business since 1979 does not have a parent entity and the ultimate parent entity because no entity has control over the company. The majority shareholder of the company is PT Gelael Pratama.

KFC Gelael. (Photo: By courtesy)

Based on the financial report, PT Gelael Pratama controls 39.84 percent or 1,589,726,610 shares of FAST. However, as of March 31, 2021, Gelael Pratama's ownership in the company founded by Dick Gelael has increased to 40.00 percent or 1,596,111,050 shares.

As of February 28, 2021, the majority shareholder of PT Gelael Pratama is Dick Gelael's wife, Elizabeth Gelael, which is 67.5 percent or 1,077,374,959 shares. Elizabeth holds the position of commissioner of FAST. Then, Rudy Tanudjaja Saputra, Dick's colleague, who held 4.75 percent of the shares and Martin Tanudjaja Saputra with 17.5 percent.

Not to be missed, Ricardo Gelael, who is the son of Dick and Elizabeth, owns 10.25 percent or 163,601,382 shares in PT Gelael Pratama.

Then, who is Ricardo Gelael, son of Dick Gelael, founder of Fast Food Indonesia? Ricardo Gelael is known as a businessman and rally racer. At Fast Food itself, Ricardo serves as the President Director. Before entering the business world, Ricardo Gelael was known as a professional racer.

Ricardo was active in rally championships, especially the World Rally Championship Indonesia in the 1996-1997 period in North Sumatra. In 2009, he had undergone an exhibition in Dawuan, West Java, and had attended the National Sprint Rally National Championship in 2019.

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One of the innovations made by Ricardo for KFC is that in addition to turning it into a family restaurant, he is conjuring up the franchise from the United States as a gathering place for young people.

Ricardo Gelael once went viral, making the event visited by Raffi Ahmad after the vaccine

The party organized by the conglomerate Ricardo Gelael family on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 evening was in the spotlight. This is after a photo of Raffi Ahmad without wearing a mask less than 24 hours after receiving the viral COVID-19 vaccine.

Raffi Ahmad and Sean Gelael. (Photo: Instagram @gelaelized)

Raffi, through his Instagram account, apologized for what made a scene. He emphasized that the place he had visited was not a public place.

"I apologize to President Jokowi, all staff of the Presidential Secretariat for the incident last night. But for clarification, last night was not in a public place, but in the private house of one of my friends' fathers," said Raffi, Thursday, January 14, 2021.

Not only Raffi, Commissioner of PT Pertamina (Persero) Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok was also targeted by netizens. Ahok was present with his wife Puput Nastiti Devi. Ahok, it is known that he sang with Once ex-Dewa 19 without wearing a mask at the same event.

Sean Gelael founder of KFC Naughty by Nature

Ricardo's racing talent seems to have decreased to his son with Rini S Bono, Sean Ricardo Gelael. From 2009-2010 Sean began to be active as a racer in the Rotax Max Junior class karting event and remained in the National Rally Championship event.

Until 2011, the graduate of the University of Bath, London, had moved to become one of the Indonesian racers in the international karting event. In 2014, Sean Gelael competed in European Formula 3 through the Chicken Champion Team founded by his father.

Meanwhile this year, Sean is preparing to take part in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the British team JOTA in the LMP2 category after five years of playing in the FIA Formula 2 event.

Sean Gelael with his teammates. (Photo: In

Not only in the racing arena, the man born in 1996 who is certain to inherit the family business also took part in the development of KFC Indonesia.

In a profile video uploaded in 2018, he shared that when he returned to Indonesia, Sean attended training for one month to become a KFC employee. She learned to cook chicken, became a cashier, cleaned restaurants and other tasks.

At the end of 2020, Sean opened a KFC outlet in Jakarta with a new concept called KFC Naughty by Nature, which is the only one in the world. This concept has been drafted since 2 years ago, even before Sean joined the executive ranks of KFC Indonesia.

Sean has a vision to provide a concept that can give a new atmosphere to KFC fans. The menu still prioritizes fried chicken which is an integral part of KFC but is balanced with side menu choices and a healthier cooking process for chicken meat.

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