JP/Dian Kuswandini

Offering Indonesian cuisine no longer seems to make the cut when it comes to renting a space in some malls, says Es Teler 77’s owner Yenny Setia Widjaja.

“It’s all about prestige to them, and they still consider us kampungan [country bumpkins],” said Yenny, who started her business with her late husband 28 years ago. “They just don’t let us enter their malls — they only allow [restaurants with] famous names and a foreign menu,” she added.

The label kampungan might bring most restaurant owners down, but not Yenny. In fact, what may seem like a degrading comment and rejection of her restaurant has made her more proud of Indonesian delicacies and her own brand.

“I believe success is all about believing in our own brand,” said the 52-year-old woman. “Why should I follow what others are doing? We’ve been offering Indonesian cuisine since the beginning, and we don’t want to change that just to be trendier.”

Yenny proved herself right by staying loyal to her own brand and local menu. That afternoon, as she sat in one of her restaurants located in a mall in South Jakarta, Yenny glanced outside her place and made her point clearer.

“Just look outside,” she paused and continued, “Restaurants around here are constantly changing. They only stay a little while and then sooner or later, are replaced by others.

“But as you can see, our restaurant is still here until today — we have survived,” Yenny smiled.
And she and her husband Sukyatno Nugroho have known for a long time that their business would survive because they handpicked dishes that belonged to many Indonesians’ hearts. Yes: those ordinary-yet-beloved dishes Indonesians will never say no to — like bakso (meat balls), soto ayam (chicken soup), sop buntut (oxtail soup), nasi goreng (fried rice), batagor (fried bakso and tofu) and gado-gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce).

“From the beginning, we believed our customers would always go for Indonesian food — no matter what,” said Yenny, whose business now includes 180 branches. “Well, we might be swayed by foreign food, but only occasionally. We just don’t want burgers all the time.

“Even when we’re abroad, we still want to eat Indonesian food, right?” she asked.

So, holding on to their belief, the couple decided to try their luck at selling Indonesia’s traditional drink, es teler (iced fruit-cocktail). Yenny’s mother Murniati Widjaja, whose es teler won a contest held by a magazine, inspired them to do so.

“Of course, we didn’t only offer es teler. We also sold food like bakso, roasted banana and toasts,” recalled the mother of three. “We run [the business] based on my mother’s recipes.”

So, armed with the family’s recipes, the couple started their business by opening a small stall in Duta Merlin complex in Harmoni, Central Jakarta, using the name Es Teler 77.

“We had no specific reason to use the number ‘77’,” said Yenny, who launched her business in July 7, 1982. “We just felt that number was pretty and would bring us luck,” she laughed.

And they were right. A spurt of luck brought their business from the confines of a rickety tent on the side of the street to a permanent place. Their juicy es teler became famous among Jakartans, (at that time, who didn’t know Es Teler 77 in Jakarta?). Fast forward to a few years later: They finally expanded their business by establishing a franchise.

“At that time, my husband and I thought that if international restaurants like KFC could be successful through franchising, then why not local restaurants?” said Yenny. The first franchise restaurant opened in Solo, Central Java, in 1987. “So we went for that [system]. Our aim was to make Indonesian food more hip through franchising.”

Sure enough, Es Teler 77 restaurants have not only spread across the archipelago, but also to Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. Australia and Singapore have three Es Teler 77 each, while Malaysia has one.

“Soon, we’ll be opening in Jeddah [Saudi Arabia],” Yenny said.

Es Teler 77’s success owes its success to a few more individuals than Yenny and her husband. After Sukyatno died in 2007, Yenny continued to run Es Teler 77 with the help of her younger brother Anton Widjaja and her second son Andrew. Having developed her own taste in traditional cuisine, Yenny is still working with her mother to create innovative dishes for Es Teler 77, like nasi goreng buntut (oxtail fried
rice), nasi goreng sambal terasi (fish-paste fried rice), bakmi kangkung (noodle with water spinach) and nasi jelimet (rice with the restaurant’s style side dishes).

“We don’t keep our recipes a secret [from our staff],” said Yenny, whose business chain now employs around 2,000 people. “Some of my employees started their own businesses [using my recipes], and I am OK with it. I think it’s a good thing [for them if they start their own businesses]. It means they’re one step further.”

Yenny is not afraid of competition. Although a few mall owners still reject her chain of restaurants, Yenny prefers to concentrate on the core of her business.

“It’s better for me to pay attention to my business — making improvements and continue giving the best, than to waste time worrying about other people’s businesses,” she smiled, while enjoying her own nasi goreng buntut during her late lunch.

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