Rebranding heritage: A new lease on life for jamu

President Joko Widodo has long been known as a believer of jamu’s wellness properties. He has spoken on more than one occasion that he drinks a special concoction of herbs every day; though he has expressed that after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he increased his intake to three doses a day.

Nothing spectacular is part of the ingredients, which consist of, among other things, ginger, lemongrass, turmeric and Javanese ginger – especially mixed and prepared by his personal chef. While the effectiveness of this particular mix in boosting his immunity and keeping him well has not been scientifically proven, the president has certainly been able to keep himself (seemingly) fit and active even as we all face the ongoing pandemic.

Either way, his habit has inspired many others to adopt the drink as part of their diet as well. In fact, jamu packets of the president’s favourite mix can be found in traditional markets and are sold as ‘Jamu Jokowi.’ This comes in the wake of the public’s growing concerns for health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic; everybody is looking for healthy food and supplements, and the nation’s sometimes forgotten herbal drinks – jamu – now gets their deserved share of the spotlight.

The Head of Jamu Entrepreneurs Union (Gabungan Pengusaha Jamu) expressed that jamu products, especially galangal or beras kencur, turmeric tamarind or kunyit asam and wedang uwuh are experiencing drastic increases in sales. The drastic increase is also confirmed by Google. Based on 2020 Google Trends data, the search for traditional herbal drinks spiked by 275% as people sought ways to boost immunity.

However, that does not mean that there are no challenges for producers, who listed limited means of promotions and delays in distribution being two of the most prevalent. Still, such challenges are no hindrance for new jamu business players to enter the market.

Karya Ramu (@karya_ramu), for instance, is a brand established in December 2020 that offers a selection of Jamu Mocktails. The brand, which is founded by Panca Tampubolon, Leonardo Domenico, Yohanes Febrianto, Theodori Raphael Monti and Christine Gerriette, offers a modern take to jamu as we know it. “We were inspired to create jamu-based products that still carry the essence of fun,” founders of Karya Ramu told The Finery Report.

They certainly have an interesting take on jamu that is potentially effective in tackling the public’s resistance against the drink. “The perception that jamu is bitter, pungent and too strong against our palate is a perspective we want to renew. Through Karya Ramu, traditional Indonesian drinks that we know so well can also come in a more familiar and fun form. And of course this opens up the opportunity for our Jamu Mocktails to be a way to change the perception (and resistance) the public has about jamu as an Indonesian heritage,” they explained.

That is definitely one way jamu can make a comeback. Although, before we continue the discussion about how jamu claims back its spot in the hearts and palates of Indonesians, we shall take a good look at its origin.

The history of jamu is estimated to date all the way back to 1300 AD. Many believe that the word ‘jamu’ originates from two ancient Javanese words: djampi (healing) and oesodo (health). Jamu refers to blends of herbs mainly used to maintain wellness and cure illnesses, and every region in Indonesia has its own blends of jamu, depending on the local herbs found in their area.

As modern medicine came into Indonesia, the tradition of regularly consuming jamu was suddenly threatened. The fact that jamu was neither standardised nor certified made it difficult for the traditional drink to compete with modern medicine which had proven effects and was backed by thorough research. Not only that, jamu’s effectiveness also started being questioned.

Fortunately, when the Japanese Empire occupied Indonesia, the tradition of consuming jamu was revived with the establishment of the Indonesian Jamu Committee. Nowadays, we still see jamu around us, although it has been modified to cater to modern day conveniences we all seek. We often take jamu in the forms of pill, instant powder, or tablet – and now we can even enjoy jamu as mocktails!

Prof. dr. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, in a publication he authored for the National Institute of Health Research and Development, part of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, in 2014 listed jamu as a ‘complementary medicine’ as opposed to a conventional medicine. Traditional and complementary medicine follows the following principles:

Holistic approach (mind-body-spirit)
Comprehensive modalities (mind-body-spirit interventions)
Aimed towards regaining body vitality for self-healing
Holistic approach in measuring treatment effectiveness (improvements in bodily functions).

Thus, the existence of jamu should not clash with modern medicine. If anything, in an ideal situation, the two are complementary. The aforementioned publication also listed five stakeholders who play important roles in making sure that jamu continues to thrive within our society. They are the public themselves, health workers, researchers, regulators and the business world.

The government, as the regulator, has carried out several efforts to support the growth of jamu, including the jamu scientification programme (Saintifikasi Jamu). The programme aims to scientifically prove the safety and effectiveness of jamu through evidence-based researches on health services, safety and expedience of jamu.

This is certainly good news for business players such as Karya Ramu, who went through their own research and development phase. “We began with an exploration process of flavours and ingredients. The Karya Ramu team focuses on constant innovation and adaptation that align with the rapidly changing times. This is applied on various aspects, from the product to the marketing, collaborations and others,” they added.

With the support from all stakeholders, combined with the rising trend of healthy lifestyle, jamu is set to come back stronger than ever. We sure hope we would not be the generation that fails jamu. And it looks like we would not be; this generation seems to have a knack at rebranding heritage.