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]
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]
