Festival Gemar Rempah Nusantara 2024

JAKARTA – The Gemar Rempah Nusantara Festival 2024 officially opened on Thursday, August 8, 2024, in the spirit of preserving the glory of the spice cultural heritage. The event, held at The Ballroom Pondok Indah Golf, South Jakarta, carries the theme “Nationalism of Spice and Nusantara Food Through the Indonesian Spice Community and Society Movement.”

Officially inaugurated by the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ma’ruf Amin, Gemar Rempah Nusantara 2024 is a collaboration between the government and business actors in cultivating the richness of spices across the country. This activity is expected to boost the entrepreneurial climate to create a creative industry based on spices, thus adding value to the community’s economy and foreign exchange for the country.

As one of the world’s largest spice producers, Indonesia has a long history in international spice trade. Various types of plantation commodities such as nutmeg, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, and turmeric have been an integral part of the lives and economy of the archipelago for centuries.

The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ma’ruf Amin, stated that spice products are a highly demanded commodity in many industries.

“History also records that Indonesian spices were once the main reason European nations came to the archipelago. Today we see that our spices still hold a very important place in the international market. This glory must continue to be maintained,” said the Vice President in his speech.

Ma’ruf added that Indonesia has exported spices to more than 150 countries worldwide, with the trade volume of spices increasing every year. For him, the potential of spices is not only limited to economic value but also historical value and cultural wealth.

“Through the Gemar Rempah Nusantara event, I hope for synergy between the government, business actors, farmers, and the community to develop a highly competitive and sustainable spice industry,” he said.

The Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, Zulkifli Hasan, stated that spice trade has the added value to potentially increase the country’s foreign exchange. The Ministry of Trade, Zulkifli said, continues to support the increase of spice exports through various strategic policies.

“We focus on increasing production capacity, improving product quality, and more aggressive promotion in international markets. In addition, we also encourage business actors to conduct product downstreaming so that Indonesian spice products have higher added value and can compete in the global market,” he explained.

Exploring the Potential of Nusantara Spice Exports

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that throughout 2023, the volume of spice exports reached 148.22 thousand tons. This realization increased by 29.77% yoy, with the total export value reaching USD 564.12 million.

The main export destinations for spices include China, the United States, India, Vietnam, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the highest export increases during the January-November 2023 period compared to the same period the previous year were Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, India, and Peru.

The variety of properties and benefits of spices is very diverse, which are needed in many industries, ranging from food, cosmetics, to medicine.

In 2021, the government launched a program titled Indonesia Spice Up The World (ISUTW), involving the central government, regional governments, entrepreneurs, academics, and communities.

This program aims to increase the marketing of spice or processed food products and spices, as well as part of the restaurant gastro diplomacy that is expected to develop and strengthen Indonesian restaurants abroad.

Through ISUTW, the government targets Indonesian spice exports to reach USD 2 billion by 2024, along with the activation of 4,000 Indonesian restaurants worldwide.

Gemar Rempah Nusantara 2024 Activities

The series of Gemar Rempah Nusantara 2024 activities will take place from August 8 to 10, 2024. This activity accompanies the government’s agenda in the Indonesia Spice Up The World (ISUTW) program, which involves cross-ministerial/institutional collaboration to enhance the marketing of Indonesian spice and processed food products.

The event also included the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Nusantara Spice Community Association (AKREN) as a tangible step of collaboration with the Indonesian Retailers Association (APRINDO), Digital Transformation Center Bandung Institute of Technology (DTC ITB), Indonesia Business Trade Solution (IBST), and MRP Legal and Business Consulting Group.

“We hope this activity can introduce and preserve the Nusantara spice heritage, as well as drive the spice food ecosystem from upstream to downstream, human resources, technology, and market through various partnerships,” said the General Chairperson of AKREN, Siti Nur Azizah Ma’aruf.

The event was also enlivened with a Talk Show featuring the theme “Nusantara Spices: Indonesia Spicing Up The Global Market” to explore the export potential of spice-based products, open market access, and share knowledge related to product standards in several countries.

A number of speakers scheduled to attend include the Director of Export Development for Services and Creative Products at the Ministry of Trade, Miftah Farid, Minister of Economy and Industry of Seychelles, Devina Vidot, Chairman of APRINDO, Roy Mandey, Chairman of the Indonesian Diaspora in France, Nina Hanafi, and Secretary General of DPP Gekrafs, Temi Sumarlin. The discussion will be moderated by the Chief of Public Relations AKREN & CEO of Indonesia Business Trade Solution (IBTS) Poppy Zeidra.

Also present was the Managing Partner of MR & Partners Law Office & Founder of Indonesia Business Trade Solution, Dodi S Abdulkadir.

It is known that AKREN will collaborate with MR & Partners Law Office and Indonesia Business Trade Solution to establish collaborative partnerships in developing the Nusantara spice business.

“We will provide legal assistance and services, as well as business consulting to spice farmers and entrepreneurs. We also establish integrated digital transformation collaboration in developing spice marketplaces and ensuring compliance with international standards in the export process,” said Dodi.

Dodi hopes that this collaboration can encourage the development of spice farmers and entrepreneurs to reach international markets. “From a legal perspective, we continue to strive to offer assistance so that the products produced can develop properly without any legal loopholes that could harm spice farmers or entrepreneurs,” said Dodi.

Meanwhile, Poppy emphasized that her institution will contribute to preparing the technical aspects so that the spices to be processed or marketed have a high selling value in terms of presentation.

“We strive as much as possible so that these spice farmers and entrepreneurs have added value from their products. This means that our spice quality is already very good, and it must be accompanied by good presentation and packaging,” said Poppy.

Poppy expressed full support for Nusantara spices. That’s why her institution is ready to contribute to the advancement of the Nusantara spice industry. “We are an integrated business consultant institution and will act as a bridge or business aggregator between spice farmers and entrepreneurs and connections that can be built to international markets,” said Poppy.

The event continued with Business Matching, facilitating business meetings to open opportunities for strategic partnerships between entrepreneurs, farmers, investors, and various other stakeholders.

The event concluded with speeches from the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno and the Ambassador of the Republic of Seychelles Nico Barito, as well as a friendly gathering with ambassadors from several countries.