Time for SMEs to Level Up or Risk Losing Consumers
Consumer protection cannot be seen as a mere add-on but must serve as the primary foundation for building sustainable SMEs.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - In 2024, the number of culinary businesses in Indonesia reached 5.28 million units, an increase of 8.71 per cent compared to 2023 (Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, 2024).
This growth indicates that culinary and processed food SMEs are increasingly integrated into the daily lives of the public. From breakfast to late-night snacks, SME products are present in nearly every consumption activity.
Behind this encouraging vibrancy lies a fundamental issue that is often overlooked: low awareness of product standards and quality. Many business operators still view quality as an additional cost burden rather than a long-term investment. As a result, products on the market are more focused on low prices without fully guaranteeing safety aspects for consumers who consume them daily.
In the field, we still encounter practices that should no longer occur. Counterfeit processed food products, the use of unfit raw materials, and even cases of health disruptions arising from consuming food that does not meet standards.
This phenomenon is not just an occasional incident but a reflection that a quality culture has not yet taken root. When business operators ignore standards, what is at stake is not only the business’s reputation but also public health.
At this point, consumer protection cannot be regarded as a complement but must become the main pillar in building sustainable SMEs.
Another equally important issue is the matter of information transparency. Many SME products are still circulated without adequate labelling, without explanations of composition, and even without clear nutritional information.
Consumers ultimately purchase in a state of “not knowing,” even though they have the right to honest and open information. Law No. 8 of 1999 has affirmed this, but implementation is still far from expectations. When information is not conveyed completely, the relationship between producers and consumers becomes unbalanced, and trust slowly erodes.
On the other hand, this issue cannot be separated from policies that are not yet fully interconnected. Efforts to maintain food security often proceed independently without strong coordination between institutions.
As a result, there are gaps in supervision that allow substandard products to still circulate in the market. In fact, instruments such as P-IRT and MD licences already exist to ensure product safety. When this system does not operate optimally, consumer protection becomes suboptimal and potentially creates broader risks.
If this situation is allowed to continue, SMEs will be trapped in an unhealthy competition pattern: cheap, fast, but ignoring quality. In the short term, it may appear profitable, but in the long term, it is detrimental. Consumer trust can be lost, and once that happens, it will be difficult to regain.
Therefore, a change in mindset is essential. SMEs cannot just survive; they must start moving towards better quality and building strong trust.