Es Teler 77 to open overseas outlets

JAKARTA (JP): Es Teler 77 Juara Indonesia, a restaurant chain selling traditional Indonesian food, will soon open its first overseas outlets in Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, the company said yesterday.

Company president Sukyatno Nugroho said that the company was in the process of obtaining permits from the Singaporean and Brunei Darussalam authorities to set up branches in both cities.

He said several investors from both countries had expressed an interest in buying the franchises.

Es Teler is a traditional drink containing avocado, jackfruit, lychee and young coconut. The restaurant chain of the same name is one of the country's most successful traditional food chains, with 199 branches across the country.

The parent company has set up a further two traditional food restaurants which it also operates on a franchise basis: Mie Tek Tek, which sells noodles and Pasti Enak, which sells fried fish.

Mie Tek Tek has 31 branches and Pasti Enak has four branches across the country.

"Our expansion abroad will certainly benefit the country since our overseas franchise holders will have to buy food materials from Indonesia. Our company will therefore add to the country's foreign exchange revenue," Sukyatno said.

Sukyatno also said Es Teler 77 had recently received a recession marketing award from the marketing consultancy firm Mark Plus for having opened 21 new restaurants in spite of the monetary crisis.

Sukyatno added the company wanted to set up another franchise chain selling gado-gado under the name of Top Gado-Gado Indonesia.

Gado-gado is a traditional Javanese dish containing several kinds of vegetables and peanut sauce.

Sukyatno said the rupiah's sharp depreciation against the U.S. dollar had placed the holders of foreign restaurant franchises in financial difficulty because they had to import some of their wares and pay franchisers in dollars.

The crisis has not had the same impact on the country's traditional food sellers, who use local produce, he said. (jsk)