No Less Than Coffee, Kemenperin Dongkrak For The Development Of The Artistic Tea Industry

Tea garden (Photo: dock. intermediate)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) is trying to boost the development of the artist tea industry, which has not been widely exposed, such as coffee. In fact, Indonesia has the potential of a quality artist tea industry which is supported by rejuvenation of plantations and processing of tea with the use of digital technology and communication.

Director General of Small, Medium and Multifarious Industries (IKMA) of the Ministry of Industry, Reni Yanita, said many people thought that high-quality and premium tea could only be imported from outside, namely from Europe and East Asia.

"For this reason, the Directorate General of IKMA of the Ministry of Industry is also committed to participating in boosting the development of IKM tea artists, through fostering the implementation of CPPOB, fostering the implementation and certification of HACCP, participating in Indonesian Food Innovation (IFI) activities, as well as facilitation at various national and international level exhibitions," he said in Jakarta, Monday, August 14.

Reni said, until now, the Directorate General of IKMA has fostered nine artist tea IKMs spread across Java and Bali so that they can advance to class. The IKMs have attended the workshop and assistance for HACCP certification, assistance and implementation of CPPOB, are participants in the IFI program, to participate in food exhibitions.

Director General Reni also appreciated the steps taken by the Indonesian Tea Artists Association (ARTI) and the Indonesian Tea Council (DTI) to establish Indonesian Tea Houses to preserve Indonesian tea so that it still exists in the community.

This is because tea has great potential as a choice of favorite drinks other than coffee in cafes that are often visited by millennials and Generation Z.

This is also reinforced by the 2020 McKinsey report, which reports that Indonesia's Z generation is mostly a brand-aware type of consumer, tends to be the initial adopter of a product or service.

"The presence of artist tea which is quite attractive to the attention of the younger generation needs to get more attention from the community and government," said Reni.

He said, artist tea is one of the innovations in tea development that offers various benefits from the materials used and the aesthetic value in its appearance. In contrast to commercial tea products dominated by large industrial and plantation products, artist tea is actually very suitable for development by IKM.

"Even with limited capital, as long as they are able to compete in terms of human resource competence and creativity, IKM is very likely to compete in the artist's tea market in Indonesia," he said.

The Indonesian Tea Artists Association defines that artistic tea is made from high quality and natural tea base ingredients (camellia sinensis), so the authentic character of the tea product is very visible.

According to ARTI, a mixture of tea and tisane (herbal and spice) can be called an artistic tea concoction if the amount of tea is more than 50 percent of other mixed ingredients, and the basic characteristics of the tea can still be felt.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that national tea production reached 136,800 tons throughout 2022, with the largest producer province being West Java.