JAKARTA - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon considers tempe to have great potential as a gastrodiplomatic instrument, namely a public diplomacy approach through culinary to introduce the identity and image of the Indonesian nation on the international stage.
He emphasized the importance of the involvement of food experts, chefs, and culinary business actors in developing tempe processed products so that they can appear more innovative and attractive, as well as strengthening the position of tempe as an ambassador of Indonesian cuisine.
"Tempe is one of the sources of vegetable protein. And we hope that chefs, experts, especially those with local wisdom will make tempe good in shape, in taste, this can be more creative in the future and can become gastrodiplomacy," he said at the Tempe Cultural Festival in Jakarta, Sunday.
In addition, Fadli Zon considers that improving the quality of human resources for tempe craftsmen is also crucial. According to him, workshops and training need to be held continuously so that craftsmen are able to produce tempe with better quality.
"How to make tempe that is also hygienic, healthy, and maybe using more organic ingredients. That will increase the value of the tempe," he said.
He said that the better quality of products would have a direct impact on increasing economic value, so that the craftsmen have the opportunity to obtain higher income from the processed tempe.
On this occasion, the Minister of Culture also touched on the main challenges in the development of tempe, namely the limited supply of raw materials. The insufficient national soybean production makes Indonesia still have to rely on imports to meet the needs of the tofu and tempe industry.
"So, maybe later in our agricultural experts we can also produce our own soybeans, with the current technological advances in the agricultural sector, hopefully we can get tempe from within the country as well," said Fadli.
Furthermore, Fadli Zon emphasized that tempe is not just a food, but part of the tradition and cultural identity of the Indonesian people that should be maintained. He places tempe as part of local food that is included in the object of cultural promotion.
"So this is also part of the cultural economy, because culture, including in the object of cultural development, also includes local food. Because this local food has cultural expressions in it, it cannot be separated from cultural expression or cultural expression," he explained.
As a form of preservation effort, the Ministry of Culture has proposed tempe to be designated as a non-material cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The government hopes that tempe can officially be included in the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list in 2026.
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