Six Ministries Launch Gastrodislomacy Collaboration, Deputy Minister Of Foreign Affairs Tata: Encourage Flavor Standardization

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Representative network are ready to spearhead diplomacy in supporting the "Indonesian Spice Flavor Program" or (S'RASA), said Deputy Foreign Minister Arramanatha Nasir at Skydeck Sarinah, Jakarta, Thursday.

SRASA is an Indonesian culinary promotion program rich in spices and flavors for foreign markets. This program presents Indonesian food with Indonesian identity, story, and cultural heritage in Indonesian restaurants in various countries.

This program is a new chapter in the Indonesia Spice Up The World (ISUTW) program which ends in 2024.

This program was launched together by the Minister of Trade Budi Santoso, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir, Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri, Minister of Creative Economy (Ekraf) Teuku Riefky Harsya, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tata, and Deputy for Medium Enterprises of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Bagus Rachman.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tata emphasized the importance of the aspect of gastrodismodification in the SRASA program.

"The collaboration of six Ministries in the Spice Flavor Program shows comprehensive cooperation coverage. This program encourages flavor standardization so that Indonesian culinary can be presented with a consistent taste in various Indonesian restaurants abroad," explained Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tata in a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saturday, August 30.

"In this case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supporting infrastructure for gastrodispologies efforts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Indonesian Representative network can spearhead diplomacy in supporting this program. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also developed the Indonesian Gastrodisporation Dashboard as a reference to Indonesian restaurant and spice information," said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tata.

Meanwhile, Trade Minister Budi is optimistic that Indonesia's culinary taste will be able to compete in the global arena. Indonesian authentic culinary cooked with typical Nusantara spices offers vital attraction in the promotion of Indonesian food abroad, as well as helps increase foreign tourist visits to Indonesia as a long-term destination, he said.

As an initial stage, the SRASA pilot project will be presented at restaurants located in five world cities, namely Tokyo, Japan; Sydney, Australia; Amsterdam, Netherlands; London, England; and New York, United States. Restaurants and suppliers of spices involved will be selected through an open selection by professionals in the culinary field.

"S'RASA is a bridge for Indonesian culinary diplomacy. With the presence of Indonesian restaurants abroad, we can introduce Indonesia. Through the experience of tasting dishes, it can encourage foreign people to be interested in getting to know Indonesian culture directly," explained the Trade Minister.

In addition to promoting culinary delights, SRASA is a step to encourage the export of Indonesian products through spices, raw materials, and Indonesian products.

"One of the contributions we can make to welcome advanced Indonesia in 2045 is to increase exports. Through S'RASA, we participate in paving the way for other Indonesian products, such as raw materials, spices, packaging, and equipment to enter the global market so that we can expand the Indonesian product market in the world arena," explained the Minister of Trade Busan, Budi Santoso's nickname.

Meanwhile, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir said the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto was the main guideline for all cabinet ranks to work hard and collaborate. This collaboration is realized in real terms through the SRASA program.

"Following the direction of the President, we can only be successful if we want to work hard and collaborate. This is clear evidence that the Red and White Cabinet has always been united in presenting innovation and togetherness in advancing Indonesian culture and tourism. We are not bound to the main task force, but to move together as a team," he explained.

He added that the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of SOEs, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Creative Economy, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs with their networks in various countries, all act as supporting systems that complement each other. Through this program, we can promote Indonesia's potential to the world and benefit all Indonesian people.

The Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri appreciated the presence of the SRASA program which is in line with the superior program of the Ministry of Tourism, Quality Tourism with gastronomi as one of the main focuses of promotion to attract affluent tourists, as well as strengthen Indonesia's position as a quality culinary destination.

"The SRASA program is in line with our programs. The existence of restaurants abroad plays an important role in increasing awareness about a country through a sense of taste and atmosphere. This will foster curiosity and emotional closeness, thus encouraging public interest abroad to visit Indonesia," said Minister Widiyanti.

The Ministry of Tourism is ready to play an active role in supporting SRASA. According to him, with cross-ministerial cooperation, this program is expected to strengthen efforts to increase the presence of Indonesian restaurants abroad, as well as be a solution to answer challenges related to access to capital and ease of obtaining raw materials for Indonesian culinary abroad.

Meanwhile, Creative Economy Minister Teuku Riefky Harsya sees this program as a forum for accelerating culinary activists so that it can open up opportunities at the global level.

"With this activity, it is hoped that it will become a forum for acceleration for culinary creative activists to strengthen their identity, create a valuable culinary IP, as well as open opportunities at the global level to make the creative economy a new engine of growth," explained Minister Harsya.

The launch of S'RASA was marked by the signing of a cooperation agreement of six ministries witnessed by ministers and deputy ministers as a sign of the start of the SRASA program collaboration.

The cooperation agreement was signed by the Director General of National Export Development Fajarini Puntodewi, Secretary of the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises Rabin Indrajad Hattari, Deputy for Cultural and Design Creativity of the Ministry of Creative Economy Yuke Sri Rahayu, Deputy for Medium Enterprises of the Ministry of MSMEs Bagus Rachman, Director General of America and Europe concurrently Plt. Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Umar Hadi, and Deputy for Industry and Investment of the Ministry of Tourism Rizki Handayani.

On the same occasion, Deputy for Medium Business at the Ministry of MSMEs Bagus Rachman revealed, the S'RASA program can strengthen MSMEs, especially the spice and spice sectors.

"This program is not only a forum for Indonesia's culinary promotion to the international market, this is an ecosystem that can bring MSMEs in the global spice and spice sector," said Bagus.

It is known, during January - June 2025, there was an increase in exports in Indonesian coffee, tea and spices which reached US$1.630 billion or grew 86.5 percent compared to the same period in 2024 which amounted to US$874.1 million.

This achievement makes Indonesian spices a non-oil and gas commodity with the second-highest export growth after cocoa with a growth rate of 129.86 percent.