This Franchise And Brand Turns Out To Have Indonesians, Check The Facts Here

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ulema Council has issued MUI fatwa Number 14/Ijtima Ulama/VIII/2024 concerning Priorities for the Use of Domestic Products to answer the needs of Muslim consumers for clear guidelines regarding criteria and indicators of products that deserve to be supported in the midst of the incessant calls for boycott.

In a press statement received on Wednesday, July 31, MUI conveyed 10 national product criteria that need to be supported, namely national ownership, domestic raw materials sources, domestic supply chains, national innovation and technology, environmentally friendly policies, support for the domestic community, quality and security, national labor empowerment, transparency and business ethics, and diversity and inclusiveness.

MUI hopes that with these criteria people can determine which domestic products should be supported. Regarding the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian attack, the Indonesian people are still calling for a boycott of brands or companies deemed affiliated with Israel.

However, is the assumption that a number of companies deserve to be boycotted right? Check the facts here.

1. KFC Indonesia

The KFC franchise brand is one of the ones on the list of boycotts in Indonesia. In the country, PT Fast Food Indonesia Tbk (FAST) is the holder of the KFC franchise. Launching the IDX website, the majority of shares are PT Fast Food Indonesia Tbk. owned by PT Gelael Pratama as much as 40 percent and PT Indoritel Makmur Internasional Tbk as much as 35.84 percent. The two companies are Indonesian companies.

The leadership of PT Fast Food Indonesia Tbk is also fully held by Indonesian citizens, with Ricardo Gelael as President Director and Ferry Noviar Yosaputra as Deputy President Director.

However, the wrong boycott movement that has an impact on the company's performance continues. Based on the 2024 FAST financial report, the company's current period loss swelled drastically to IDR 349 billion, soaring 6.168.2 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

In addition to the impact of the OVID-19 pandemic which has not fully recovered, the boycott is suspected to have had a significant impact on the company's performance.

2. McDonald's Indonesia

PT Rekso Nasional Food, as the holder of the McDonald's franchise in Indonesia, has stated that they are an independent operating entity, which is wholly owned by Indonesian entrepreneurs and employs tens of thousands of local workers.

Reporting from the company's website, PT Rekso Nasional Food also has various commitments to the country, including sustainability commitments, the use of local raw materials and inclusiveness.

In one of the media events, Ronni Rombe, Director of Supply Chain & QA PT Rekso Nasional Food said, as an Indonesian company, PT Rekso Nasional Food has a great opportunity to have a real impact on sustainable development through business operations.

"Through the presence of more than 300 McDonald's restaurants throughout Indonesia, tens of thousands of local workers, and dozens of local supplier partners, we believe the various efforts we are making can make a positive contribution to supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. In order to have a greater impact, we want to invite all parties to jointly contribute for the future and a better environment," he explained.

Regarding the use of local raw materials, currently, overall, 75 percent of the raw materials used by McDonald's Indonesia come from local suppliers. Regarding inclusiveness, PT Rekso Nasional Food also employs deaf disabled employees at many McDonald's Indonesia restaurants.

3. Pizza Hut

Many Indonesians are currently still aggressively boycotting Pizza Hut Indonesia. In fact, Pizza Hut Indonesia is under the auspices of PT Sarimelati Kencana Tbk, which is an Indonesian company.

Launching the official website of PT Sarimelati Kencana Tbk, the majority shares of the company, as much as 64.79 percent, are owned by PT Sriboga Raturaya. On the official pizzahut.co.id website, they said that Pizza Hut had been in Indonesia for 40 years, and currently employs more than 13,000 employees in more than 600 outlets from Sabang to Merauke.

In addition, the Board of Directors and Commissioners of Pizza Hut are also Indonesian citizens. Currently, the management of the company PT Sarimelati Kencana is also occupied by Indonesian citizens with Hadian Iswara as President Director and Boy Lukito Director of Operations.

In terms of supply chains, Pizza Hut Indonesia said that they have fostered around 100 groups of MSME Farmers with no less than 600 Greenhouses which supply 60 percent of the needs of Paprika & Tomatoes for the menus offered. Pizza Hut Indonesia also has a commitment to continue to expand to 100 percent of the needs met from Indonesian Local MSME Farmers.

4. Rose All Day

Not only fast food restaurants, several beauty brands were also targeted by the community's boycott, one of which was Rose All Day. In October 2023, internet users had called for the brand's boycott movement because the Rose All Day co-founder Tiffany Danielle was considered to support Israel because she was found to like the Gal Gadot's "I stand with Israel" post.

In response to this, they made a clarification. "We state that Rose All Day has never supported the violence that occurred in Palestine. Our prayers and hearts are on Palestinians who are increasingly facing the humanitarian crisis."

In addition, Tiffany Danielle has also conveyed her apology on social media. Rose All Day also shows proof of their support for Palestine through humanitarian donations worth IDR 500 million channeled through the National Amil Zakat Agency (Baznas).

Rose All Day itself is a brand that was born and raised in Indonesia. Tiffany Danielle founded Rose All Day along with two other Indonesian citizens, Cindy Gunawan and Samantha Wijaya in 2017.

5. Scarlett

Apart from Rose All Day, local beauty brand Scarlett was also hot to get a boycott call from netizens. This stems from the owner of Scarlett who is also a celebrity, Felicya Angelista, uploading a video containing opinions about the events that occurred in Palestine.

However, the video content received harsh criticism from netizens for supporting Israel. Scarlett's owner later apologized after the video of herself caused controversy on social media.

He also expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and emphasized that his position coincided with the official attitude of the Indonesian government.

"My fouries are deep, and my position is very clear in supporting the independence and human rights of the Palestinian people," he said at the time.

Scarlett was founded by Felicya Angelista in 2017. Scarlett released various types of beauty products that focus on brightening and maintaining skin health, both for the body, face, and hair. With the concept of 'Reveal Your Beauty', Scarlett presents a variety of selected products aimed at increasing user confidence by daring to express beauty with their respective versions.