In the past two decades, the growing popularity of bread-based meals and pastries has been slowly, but steadily on the rise as more and more bread franchises open in Indonesia, encouraging people to eat more bread and pastry-based products.

In 2003, Indonesian businessman Johnny Andrean brought over Singapore-based brand Bread Talk to the country, opening a floodgate of other franchises to follow in their footsteps.

As such, many young Indonesians have been exposed more to meals such as hamburgers and sandwiches, and it is not strange to find some consuming them on a day-to-day basis.

Ian Michael Bahar, a 25-year-old freelance video editor based in Jakarta said that these days he can consume burgers three to four times a week.

“Lately, I haven't had time to cook at home, and ordering burgers is just way more convenient, no need to wash dishes or utensils,” Ian said, “around my house, there are a lot of good burgers and they’re not expensive either.”

Narantara Sitepu, a 39-year-old who works in marketing and communications said he had been eating bread since he was little.

“Every time I went to a restaurant, if they had burgers on the menu I would always choose it,” he said, “unless it was not their specialty or something.”

It only made sense for American fast-food sandwich chain Subway to open its stores in Indonesia. On Oct. 15, the franchise opened its first restaurant in Cilandak Townsquare, Jakarta with hundreds lining up to get a taste, proving that many in the capital are enthusiastic about the brand, western-style sandwiches, or both.

In the 1990s, Subway had already opened a few stores in Jakarta and one in Bali, but they did not do well and were all closed by 2005. Anthony Cottan, the president director of PT Map Boga Adiperkasa Tbk (MBA), the parent company of PT Sari Sandwich Indonesia and official partner of Subway in the country, said that things were different this time around, as culinary taste had become part of lifestyle, particularly for urbanites.

Returning sandwich: On October 15, Subway returned to Indonesia and opened their first store in Cilandak Town Square. (Courtesy of Subway Indonesia) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Subway Indonesia)

“Back then, the business model was to franchise Subway to individual entrepreneurs and perhaps their vision was a bit smaller. And they opened at a time that wasn’t so easy, so it was easy for them to give up,” Cottan said.

“The new business model comes with a country development plan, and we want to grow big – to a few hundred stores,” he continued.

Local sandwiches and burgers blooming

Started in 2017, Lawless Burger Bar is probably among the most popular burger and sandwich joints in Indonesia today, especially with young people. Although during the pandemic their sales had gone down considerably, one of the co-founders Arian Arifin—also the singer of popular heavy metal band, Seringai—said their sales for burgers and sandwiches were still in the thousands.

“For one outlet in a week, we might have sold around 1,500 to 2,000 burgers during the PPKM, but pre-pandemic it got to 3,000 or 4,000 burgers,”

Currently, there are five outlets of Lawless Burger Bar in Jakarta and its surroundings, and one Dogbar, a store specializing in selling hot dogs.

The numbers say it all. And it is not just in big cities like Jakarta.

Samara Smoke Pit, a BBQ restaurant in the small city of Tasikmalaya in West Java, started as a BBQ home-delivery service in 2018 specializing in smoked meat. Their sandwich option on the menu has been a relative success, selling 30 to 50 sandwiches a week. Not bad for a city with a population less than 1/20th of Jakarta.

Owner Yofa Yuandira said Samara deliberately went for sandwiches and not burgers since burgers were a lot more “mainstream” in Tasikmalaya, thanks to its popularity in bigger cities such as Jakarta and Bandung.

The right stuff: Burgers and sandwiches have become more popular in Indonesia in recent years. (Unsplash/Jay Gajjar) (Unsplash/Jay Gajjar)

“Sandwiches have become an alternative to burgers in Tasikmalaya,” Yoga said.

Gobbleger, a new burger joint in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, established less than a year ago and claims to sell 200 to 300 burgers in a week.

It is doing so well that manager Vinny Rhosvita said they planned to open new outlets in 2022.

“We want to open another outlet in Samarinda, but also one in Jakarta,” Vinny said.

More sandwiches on the way

Whether it is international franchises or local restaurants, it seems like Indonesians’ appetite for anything bread will only grow stronger, and MBA’s Anthony Cottan is banking on it as he plans to grow Subway in Indonesia.  

“Subway will debut three additional restaurants in Jakarta and Tangerang by the end of October, with sights on Bandung, Surabaya and Semarang in 2022,” Cotton said.

“Now is a good time. The market is more mature and Indonesians’ appetite and knowledge for bread is so much bigger now,” he concluded.