Bumbu Desa was founded by myself and my brothers in 2004. In founding the company, it was our mission to honour the housewives and maids who have enriched Sundanese food and contribute enormously to Indonesia’s diverse cuisine. It is no longer the case that food and drink are just for survival in Indonesia. In the country’s bigger cities, people now view food as a means of entertainment and as something to be enjoyed, taking the time to appreciate each dish’s unique taste. Restaurants can thus serve the dual purpose of showcasing traditional Indonesian food to the increasingly culinary-savvy public while at the same time fulfilling their basic everyday need to eat; something that is particularly important for people who do not have time to cook for themselves. Restaurants can offer very personalised experiences for their customers, and this is a service we aim to provide. 

Since the opening of our first Bumbu Desa outlet in Bandung, we have experienced rapid growth and now have nearly 50 branches of our franchise located throughout the country. Bumbu Desa has also been introduced to the Singaporean and Malaysian markets. In the future, we plan on expanding internationally to cities such as Tianjin and Sydney, as well as to Europe and America. Having granted our partners in Singapore and Malaysia master franchises, we expect that they may also expand further into their respective domestic markets.

Bumbu Desa restaurants are special in that they are more than capable of handling a large number of customers but also provide a comfortable, well-furnished environment. We ensure that all of our restaurants are managed professionally and in accordance with modern management techniques. In addition to offering our famous Sundanese cuisine, we also serve multidimensional exploratory foods that are typically based on local cuisine. Around 70% of the food made available is Sundanese and the other 30% is the traditional food of the city where the restaurant is located. We take pride in being able to combine Sundanese traditions with that of the local city and believe that in order to be successful, a business needs to embrace the culture of its target market. 

The main challenge is better understanding how we can deliver our products to the global market. Our traditional Sundanese cuisine is made with ingredients that can be difficult to obtain outside of Indonesia. Furthermore, as we are also actively trying to market Indonesian culture to our customers abroad, another challenge is delivering an appealing cultural message to a global audience. Finally, regulations in countries we wish to enter related to manpower restrictions are also issues that we need to deal with and overcome to be successful.

We are very open to working with foreign investors and partners for our expansion process. We have over 3 years of experience with our partner in Malaysia and have had extremely positive results thus far. As such, we welcome partnerships with new investors who are interested in bringing the Bumbu Desa brand into their domestic market.

Our company is particularly interested in obtaining capital and technology that can be utilised in the restaurant to improve our internal processes.

We plan on offering basic ingredients for Indonesian cooking. Doing this would allow us to ensure a high level of consistency between each of our branches. These products will also be sold to customers as souvenirs and merchandise in our branches.

The company also plans on entering the hotel industry, as I am already engaged in this area of business and my brothers wish to focus on hospitality-related opportunities in the future.

Bumbu Desa sells Sundanese food as well as traditional Indonesia culture; we very much believe that food and culture are mutually dependent and cannot be separated. As such, we want to show the global market that our food represents true Indonesian culture.