We offer the finest kretek cigarettes!
Kretek, the clove-infused cigarette of Indonesia, was created in the
town of Kudus, Central Java, in the late nineteenth century. What was
once a small-scale cottage industry has grown over the course of more
than 100 years becomes one of the largest contributors to the
Indonesian economy, second only to oil and gas.
The Story of Tobacco
The first stories on tobacco originate from Christophorus Columbus in
1492, who reported that the native people of the American continent
smoked tobacco to chase away tiredness. Tobacco leaves were also used
for ritual ceremonies and for medicine amongst the Indian tribe.
The suppressors and conquerors from Europe then started smoking tobacco
leaves, and this habit soon spread all over the world. In 1559, Jean
Nicot, the French Ambassador in Lisabon, conducted research on tobacco.
He even sent a mixture of tobacco powder to Queen Chatarine de Medici
as a remedy for her headaches.
Nicot's research, titled Historia Plantarum, is further published in
the book, Dela in 1586. In his article he gave the tobacco plant the
name of Nicotiana, which later on became known as the tobacco genus, a
botanical member of the Solanaceae family.
Tobacco in Indonesia
In Indonesia, tobacco has been known for a long time. In the 17th
century Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in his legendary book, The History
of Java, wrote about tobacco. Sources of Javanese literature, such as
Badad Ing Sangkala, mentioned that tobacco was introduced on the island
of Java around the time that Panembahan Senopati Ing Ngalaga, the
founder of Mataram Dynasty, passed away in around 1602.
Raffles was of the opinion that tobacco seeds were first brought in by
the Dutch. But, other sources point to the Portuguese. The reasons for
this being that the Javanese may be closer to the word tembako
(Indonesian for tobacco), or tumbaco (in Portuguese), as compared to
the word tabak (in Dutch).
Rumphius reported that in around 1650 many tobacco plantations could be
found in Indonesia. During the VOC days large scale tobacco plantations
were found in the Kedu, Bagelen, Malang and Priangan areas. Later on,
in the 17th century, tobacco plantations spread further to Deli,
Padang, Palembang, Cirebon, Tegal, Banyumas, Semarang, Rembang, Kediri,
Besuki, Lumajang, Malang, Surabaya, Pasuruan, Kalimantan, Sulawesi,
Ambon, even up to Papua.
The Quest for the Spice Islands
The history of the clove, the key ingredient in kretek, is interwoven
with the history of Indonesian itself. Cloves were once highly prized
for their medicinal properties. Even in Roman times, cloves demanded
high prices. It is little wonder then that many a merchant became rich
through the buying and selling cloves.
The highly sought-after spice originally grew only on five tiny islands
east of Sulawesi and west of Papua. In order to control the buying and
selling of the spice from its source, the Dutch and English East India
companies were formed at the beginning of the 17th century. Thus began
an era of colonization and foreign intervention in Asia.
It was not until the 19th century that people began adding cloves to
their cigarette. The trend caught on quickly, and within a few years
kretek were being produced on a commercial scale and the beginnings of
a new industry were been born.
The Inventor of Kretek
Tobacco was first introduced to Indonesia at the beginning of the 17th
century. Cigarettes of that time were homemade, hand-rolled and wrapped
in cornhusk. It was not until the late 19th century that cloves were
added to the tobacco.
It is believed that the first person to add cloves to his cigarette was
a man called H. Jamhari, a resident of the town of Kudus, the
birthplace of kretek. During the 1880s he suffered from mild asthma,
and found that rubbing clove oil on his chest could offer some relief.
He then thought a way to bring the healing properties of the cloves
closer to his lungs - if he sprinkled some cloves into his cigarette
and the smoked it, would this not be even better?
Miraculously, H. Jamhari was cured. He began to produce and market his
invention, extolling its medicinal properties - the first kretek were
sold through pharmacies. As the popularity of kretek grew, so cottage
industries began to spring up, all producing hand-rolled clove
cigarettes.
The Beginnings of Mass Production
Unfortunately, H. Jamhari died before he could make his fortune out of
kretek. This task was taken up by another Kudus resident by the name of
Nitisemito. He transformed a cottage industry into a mass-production
industry in two ways: firstly, by creating his own brand (Bal Tiga) and
image. Nitisemito introduced marketing campaigns the likes of which
Indonesia had not seen before. Beautiful labels were printed in Japan
and free gifts were offered to loyal smokers in return for empty packs.
Secondly, began to subcontract work. A middleman handled the labor,
while Nitisemito provided the tobacco, cloves and sauce. This practice
was quickly adopted by other kretek companies and continued up until
mid-20th century, when companies began to hire their own employees as a
way of ensuring quality and loyalty. The Bal Tiga company did not
recover after the Second World War and was declared bankrupt in 1955.
The Kretek Revolution
By the 1960s, it looked as though kretek was a dying breed. Western
cigarettes had become more popular, especially the international
brands, which lent the smoker a certain prestige. However, the 1970s
saw a revolution in the kretek industry, which ensured its success
until the present day.
In the mid-1970s, an oil boom attracted foreign investment to
Indonesia. President Soeharto invested this money in the development of
indigenous industries, and offered low-interest loans to kretek makers,
thus fueling the industry.
Furthermore, licenses were issued to companies to allow them to begin
automated production of kretek. The uniform size and shape of this new
breed of clove cigarette became a favorite with upper classes, and by
the late 1970s kretek was competing directly with foreign brands. The
clove cigarette was reborn as a sophisticated smoke, an indulgence for
the middle and upper classes. High-end packaging designs and
advertising campaigns transformed the kretek from a peasant's pleasure
to sought-after luxury.
Finally, the government's policy of compulsory transmigration in the
1970s ensured that kretek spread to every corner of the Indonesian
archipelago. This attempt to relieve overpopulation in Java by forcibly
uprooting families and moving them to other parts of the country
encouraged kretek companies to expand their distribution to cover the
whole of Indonesia.
