Sales Of Traditional Herbal Medicine Are Believed To Increase After The COVID-19 Pandemic

Illustration (Photo: by Lisa Hobbs on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - General Chairman of the Jamu Entrepreneurs Association, Dwi Ranny Pertiwi, said that the relaxation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in DKI Jakarta has had a positive impact on the sale of traditional herbal medicine. However, sales have not returned to their pre-COVID-19 conditions.

Dwi believes, the trend of selling herbal medicine in the future will increase rapidly in line with the increasing awareness of the public to consume herbal products to increase immunity.

Not only that, said Dwi, currently sales of traditional herbal medicine have also entered modern cafes. In fact, he said, this has become a separate trend among millennials. This condition has a huge market potential.

Even so, according to Dwi, the increase in sales will occur gradually because it is affected by the decline in people's purchasing power during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The prospect of herbal medicine in the future remains bright as long as it can face challenges and increase packaging innovation, it must change for millennials because now millennials have started to look at herbal medicine and have begun to understand the benefits of herbal medicine for health," he said, in a virtual discussion, Tuesday, June 23.

On the other hand, Dwi said, traditional herbal medicine entrepreneurs who hook the community and sell them online will recover the fastest after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because during the PSBB period, promotion and distribution of goods tended to be hampered.

"The herbal medicine industry that collaborates with the community and online retailers will recover faster because it is through the community. They can produce and educate people so that people understand the benefits of herbal medicine for health," he said.

However, Dwi explained, this condition cannot be equated to an industry that sells herbal medicine through conventional and conservative methods. He considered that the industry tends to have difficulty selling its products even though the PSBB easing has been implemented.

Previously, the herbal medicine industry had experienced great pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was exacerbated by the large-scale imports of herbal medicine from China by the DPR RI's Task Force against COVID-19. In fact, the imported herbs have not been clinically proven to cure patients infected with the virus.