Djarum

Indonesian tobacco company

  • Tobacco
  • Conglomerate
Founded21 April 1951; 73 years ago (1951-04-21)FounderOei Wie GwanHeadquartersKudus, Central Java, Indonesia
Key people
  • Michael Bambang Hartono
  • Robert Budi Hartono
Owner
  • Michael Bambang Hartono
  • Robert Budi Hartono
Number of employees
60,000 (2024)[2]ParentDjarum Group (PT Dwimuria Investama Andalan)Websitewww.djarum.com

PT Djarum (from Javindo ꦗꦫꦸꦩ꧀ 'djarum'; Javanese pronunciation: [ˈdʒarʊm]) is an Indonesian kretek (clove cigarette) manufacturer and conglomerate based in Kudus, Central Java. It produces dozens of domestic and international brands. Djarum Black, Super, and L.A. Lights are among the most popular products of Djarum. Under its direct parent, PT Dwimuria Investama Andalan (also known as Djarum Group), it has non-cigarette business lines in technology, banking, and food.[3][4] The company owns the PB Djarum, a professional badminton club, the Italian football club Como, and was the main sponsor of Liga 1, Indonesia's top football league from 2005 to 2011.

History

In 1951, Oei Wie Gwan, an Indonesian businessman who immigrated from China in 1920, acquired NV Murup, a nearly defunct cigarette company in Kudus, Central Java. NV Murup's most popular brand of cigarretes was called Djarum Gramofon English: gramophone needle; Gwan shortened the name to Djarum (needle).[5][6] The company nearly collapsed in 1963 when its factory was destroyed in a fire around the time of Oei's death.[7] Oei's sons Budi and Bambang Hartono took over the company and began the process of rebuilding it.[5]

The company began producing machine-rolled kretek in the late 1970s,[8] but it also continues to produce hand-rolled kretek made by manual labourers.[9] In 2016, Djarum and several other tobacco companies in Indonesia were implicated by Human Rights Watch for the use of child labor without hand protection.[10]

Through its expansion into various other non-cigarette sectors, including food, drink, banking, garments, and technology, in the 1980s and 1990s Djarum became one of the top five largest conglomerates within Indonesia.[11] By 2010, Djarum Group was the largest conglomerate in Indoneisa.[12]

After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the company became a part of a consortium that bought Bank Central Asia (BCA) from BPPN. BCA is the largest private bank in Indonesia and was formerly a part of the Salim Group. Presently, the majority stake of the bank (51%) is controlled by Djarum.[12][13] In 2004, Djarum acquired a 30-year BOT contract from the government to develop and renovate Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta under the Grand Indonesia superblock project.[14]

The Djarum badminton club, PB Djarum, was founded in 1974 by Budi Hartono. Its players, such as Liem Swie King and Alan Budikusuma, have won numerous championships for Indonesia.[15]

Djarum's kreteks enjoyed a high level of popularity among smokers in the United States during the clove cigarette fad of the 1980s.[16] Since 2009, most flavoured cigarettes in the United States have been banned following the passing of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. To circumvent the ban, Djarum's clove products are now marketed as "filtered cigars" and are wrapped in tobacco leaf instead of black paper. The tobacco is air-cured, and they are packaged in boxes of 12 instead of 20.[17]

Non-cigarette business lines

  • ALTO (interbank network)
  • Bank Central Asia (banking company)
  • Blibli (e-commerce)
  • GDP Venture (venture capital)
  • Global Dairi Alami (dairy manufacturer, branded as MilkLife)
  • Grand Indonesia (multipurpose complex)
  • HPI AGRO (palm oil plantations company)
  • Margo City (mall)
  • Mola (over-the-top streaming service)
  • Padma Hotels and Resorts (accommodations)
  • Polytron (electronics company)
  • Sarana Menara Nusantara (telecommunications infrastructure company)
  • Savoria (food and beverage manufacturer, branded as Yuzu, Fox's, 5 Days and Krizzi)
  • SENT Entertainment (media company based in UK)
  • Sumber Kopi Prima (instant coffee manufacturer, branded as Delizio Caffino and Kopi Tubruk Gadjah)
  • Superlive.id (news platforms)
  • Supra Boga Lestari (retail supermarkets)
  • Tiket.com (travel booking platform)

Involvement in sports

  • PB Djarum (badminton club funded by Djarum Foundation)
  • Sponsorship of Indonesian top league:
    • 2005–2007 as Liga Djarum Indonesia[18]
    • 2008–2011 as Djarum Indonesia Super League[19]
  • Como (football club) via SENT Entertainment[20]
  • Garuda Select (football talent development acceleration program)

References

  1. ^ "Djarum Pt – Company Profile and News". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Budi Hartono". Bloomberg Billionares Index. Bloomberg L.P. 2024. Archived from the original on 25 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  3. ^ Valenta, Elisa (9 February 2024). "From tobacco to banking, how Indonesia's Hartono brothers amassed a US$48 billion fortune". The Business Times. SPH Media. Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  4. ^ Tanzer, Andrew (28 August 1995). "Smoking—and no apologies". Forbes. 156 (5): 52 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ a b Hadiwinata, Thomas; Bandelan Amirudin (12 April 2004). "Djarum: Sweet Smell of Success". Tempo. PT Tempo Inti Media – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ Welker 2024, p. 204.
  7. ^ Welker 2024, p. 204; Suryadinata 2015, p. 60.
  8. ^ Welker 2024, p. 12.
  9. ^ Thatcher, Jonathan (29 October 1989). "Indonesians Cleave to Clove Cigarettes". Los Angeles Times: 12. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024 – via ProQuest. A large proportion of Djarum's 27,000 workers still roll and pack the clove cigarettes, or kretek, by hand.
  10. ^ Wardoyo, Prasto; Eveline Danubrata (25 May 2016). "Childhood goes up in smoke for Indonesian tobacco farm workers". Reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  11. ^ Jilberto & Hogenboom 2006, p. 1985.
  12. ^ a b "Indonesia's Djarum Group buys BCA shares worth $382 mln-sources". Reuters.com. Reuters. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  13. ^ Borsuk & Chng 2014, p. 87.
  14. ^ Hermansyah, Anton; Arif Gunawan S. (16 February 2016). "Demand for Kempinski apartments drops over contract case". The Jakarta Post. PT. Bina Media Tenggara. Archived from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  15. ^ Kuswandini, Dian (11 July 2009). "Liem Swie King: The return of A KING". The Jakarta Post. PT. Bina Media Tenggara. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  16. ^ Hadden, Briton; Henry R. Luce (14 January 1985). "Cloven Smokers: Dangers in a Teen-Age Fad?". Time. Time Inc. p. 63. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024.
  17. ^ Newman, Barry (28 October 2009). "To the FDA, This Indonesian Smoke is Close but No Cigar". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  18. ^ Sufiyanto, Tengku, ed. (23 August 2016). "Cerita Produk Rokok yang Pernah 'Merajai' Sepakbola Indonesia". Indosport (in Indonesian). PT. Media Sport Indonesia. p. 4. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  19. ^ Sufiyanto, Tengku, ed. (23 August 2016). "Cerita Produk Rokok yang Pernah 'Merajai' Sepakbola Indonesia". Indosport (in Indonesian). PT. Media Sport Indonesia. p. 5. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Djarum Caplok Como 1907, Ini Sederet Klub Milik Pengusaha RI". cnbcindonesia.com (in Indonesian). Jakarta: CNBC Indonesia. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2024.

Works cited

  • Borsuk, Richard; Nancy Chng (2014). Liem Sioe Liong's Salim Group: The Business Pillar of Suharto's Indonesia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789814459570 – via Google Books.
  • Jilberto, Alex E. Fernández; Barbara Hogenboom (2006). Big Business and Economic Development: Conglomerates and Economic Groups in Developing Countries and Transition Economies Under Globalisation. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781134125753 – via Google Books.
  • Suryadinata, Leo (2015). Prominent Indonesian Chinese: Biographical Sketches. ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. ISBN 9789814620505 – via Google Books.
  • Welker, Marina (2024). Kretek Capitalism: Making, Marketing, and Consuming Clove Cigarettes in Indonesia. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520399679 – via Google Books.
  • Official website