Sosrodjojo Family Business Challenges, Up to Three Generations

reported: Liu Setiawan

Jakarta, December 22, 2024/Indonesia Media – Who doesn’t know the slogan ‘Whatever the food, drink Teh Botol Sosro’? The slogan is very much embedded in the minds of the Indonesian people. Apart from the advertisements and slogans, there is another side to the tea beverage business that was first pioneered by Sosrodjojo (real name: Souw Seng Kiam), who is the first generation of the Sosrodjojo family. Not many people know that Sosrodjojo’s business has also expanded into cigarettes, crackers and other foods. Unfortunately, the cigarette business only lasted about 10 years. “Our family’s cigarette factory is also in Slawi (Tegal Regency, Central Java). There are several brands, one of which is the Pluitan brand. I once helped market it in Jakarta. But our cigarettes only lasted (around 1960 – 1970),” Surjanto Sosrodjojo, one of Souw Seng Kiam’s children, told the editorial team.

Sosrodjojo started his tea business in 1940 in Slawi, Central Java, by selling dried tea under the Teh Cap Botol brand. His family business survived until the third generation, even though Surjanto retired 40 years ago. The scale of the first generation of the Sosrodjojo family’s tea business was initially a home industry, from Slawi moving to Jakarta, precisely the Cempaka Putih area around 1970. The family business, at that time only had three employees handling production. There were also other employees handling packaging but it was still manual or using their hands. “At that time, my father had actually divided (the handling of the business). My eldest brother, Soemarsono (Souw Hway Hin) who handled cigarettes. The bottled tea business was handled by my third brother, Soetjipto (Souw Hway Ho), and has survived until now (1953 – present). “Soemarsono’s palm lines are different from those of his brothers (Soegiarto, Soetjipto, Surjanto),” said Surjanto when met by the editorial team at his office in the Sunter area of North Jakarta.

When he moved from Slawi to Jakarta, Surjanto marketed his cigarettes in the Tanjung Priok area, North Jakarta (Jakut). At that time, he was still around 19 years old and sold his cigarettes to several stalls. It turned out that the results of marketing cigarettes, especially in Jakut, were successful. At that time, he was also still attending night school in Pahoa. After graduating from Pahoa Middle School, he moved to Semarang, Central Java. Because he felt uncomfortable, he returned to Jakarta. “I sold cigarettes in small quantities. The cigarettes sold well, especially the Pluitan brand. My brother marketed other brands but they only lasted about 10 years,” said the recipient of the Kaufmann Diplom ( business administration ) from the University of Mannheim, Germany (1966 – 1973).

Because the cigarette business closed, Surjanto was finally asked to help handle the bottled tea business. To be precise, after returning from Germany to Indonesia in 1973, he began to focus on helping market bottled tea. He was convinced that corporate economics (with a Kaufmann Diplom degree) from Mannheim University was useful for business development. Kaufmann Diplom is more similar to the corporate university of the Republic of Indonesia’s BUMN (State-Owned Enterprises), where employees have the skills according to market conditions. “I studied corporate economics in Mannheim, leaving in 1966. Actually, at that time I was already studying at the Republic of Indonesia University (Trisakti University). But the political conditions, and almost every day there were demonstrations, I was told to study in Germany. I chose Germany over America, because the registration process was easier. At that time, there were only three Indonesian students in the corporate economics study program,” said the man born in 1938.

Seeing the condition of the company, which relies on family management, he admitted to believing in the myth and its challenges. Most Chinese families believe that no matter how successful and large a business empire has been built, everything can return to zero in the third generation. To avoid this, around 1980, he decided to retire. Thus, he was sure that the inheritance of the Sosrodjojo business would continue until the third generation. The inheritance process turned out to run smoothly without any friction, conflict, or internal intrigue in family relationships. “I decided to retire (the bottled tea business) when my son who had studied in America (studying industrial engineering) returned to Indonesia. I believe that in a family business, children should not be concentrated in one company. After retiring, I was pulled by Jababeka (an industrial area developer company). There were 21 founders of Jababeka at the first time, including Sudwikatmono,” said Surjanto. (LS/IM)