One restaurant's beef: 'We're not burgers...'

JAKARTA (JP): It's somewhat understandable that fast-food restaurants have become synonomous with burgers in the minds of Indonesian consumers.

The grandaddy of them all, McDonald's, has stamped itself on the local public's consciousness since it opened its doors to burger lovers at its flagship outlets in Sarinah department store in Central Jakarta 10 years ago.

For restaurants that have followed in its wake, but offer other types of fare, the assumption that they serve up nothing more than beef patties in buns is hard to shake.

One of them is Arby's, which launched in December its debut TV advertising campaign after six years in Indonesia.

It, too, has found it hard to remove itself from the shadow of those overreaching golden arches.

"We are trying to inform the public about the quality of our products, but particularly that we make sandwiches, not burgers," said Handryn M. Murti, general manager for marketing and sales of PT Repex Bhogaadhika, the master franchisee of Arby's Inc., U.S.A.

"Our message is that we are different."

She added the company took a gradual approach to spreading the word about what it had to offer.

"We only have 11 outlets here, we're the only Arby's in Asia, so we don't have the brand of say a McDonald's," Handryn said recently at one of the company's restaurants in Blok M Plaza.

"We are fast food, but what we do have to offer above all is quality of our products and service."

Arby's has made its name for its beef, which Handryn said was roasted for three and a half hours to ensure it was thoroughly cooked. The time involved in the preparation and the quality of the meat used was the reason for the company's products being more expensive than rival fast food chains.

"We do not serve burgers, where the meat is taken from all over the cow. Our beef is a prime cut, and that means it is a little bit more costly."

When the economic crisis hit in mid-1997, it took a big bite out of sales for most foreign fast food franchises. Consumers who were once able to spare a few thousand rupiah for a burger or a fried chicken meal suddenly had to think twice about the "luxury" of such a meal.

In order to help out consumers, meal options were explored by Arby's and about 80 percent of products sourced from local suppliers.

The firm said that there was no skimping on quality with the locally sourced ingredients.

"From our locally sourced bread to potatoes, we have to have the quality approved by Arby's Inc. U.S.A.," said head of training Ira Wardani.

Instead of importing the beef from Australia, heads of cattle are now brought over from Australia and slaughtered according to halal (Muslim dietary guidelines) in Jakarta.

The restaurant also introduced beef stroganoff, which is found only at Arby's in Indonesia, to suit local tastes for rice (the item is also served with noodles).

"Indonesians like to eat beef, but they don't necessarily want it with bread. That's why we give them the option of beef stroganoff, with its sauce and rice," Handryn said.

Other new menu additions also include "healthy" choices of baked potatoes and salads.

With the measures, Arby's was able to survive as other fast- food enterprises, such as U.S. cookie company Mrs. Fields, packed up.

"I'm proud to be able to say that we didn't shut any stores during the crisis, but we actually expanded," Handryn said, adding that there was no change in the amount of the royalty paid to Arby's U.S.A.