Margoredjo Koffie and The Struggle Against Europeans Hegemony Over Coffee Comodity

A range of jars contains various type of coffee from all over Indonesia in Dharma Boutique Roastery (DBR), former major coffee brand of Margo-Redjo that hailed as the first company who owned by non-Europeans that gained success as coffee exporter in Dutch East Indie, present days Indonesia.

An advertisement about Margo-Redjo in De Locomotief
newspaper in 1948. (source: delpher.nl) 

A cup of Java, please! a term widely known in coffee outlets mainly in the United Kingdom and the United States. According to an explanation from the United States National Coffee Association (NCA) page, it was explained that coffee plants were originally grown in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in Yemen, until in the 17th century Dutch merchants who exploring the eastern world hemispheare under the so-called first enterprise in the world,  Veerenidge Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) tried to cultivate it outside Arabian Peninsula. In the beginning, to cultivate coffee outside the Arabian Peninsula turned into failure when they tried to cultivate it in their new colony in Ceylon. But things changed drasticaly when VOC tried it in their most valuable colony of Java, in Indonesian Archipelago. Its not getting so long until this plant became one of the most valuable commodity for VOC commerce acitivity, even when the power shifted into Den Haag after the collapse of the VOC in 1799. This coffee commodity from Java is really a world famous, and the word Java sometimes associated with coffee. A computer-programming language, founded in 1995 by James Goosling that so popular before even use Java as their name and did you remember whats their icon? Its a cup of coffee! 

House of Tan Tiong  with the strong Indische style architecture in 
Kebonkarang, Semarang. The people mostly recognize the house as 
Rumah Kopi Wotgandul, as its not far from Wotgandul neigborhood.

Semarang, the main port city in Central Java was a silent witness to how valuable the trading of coffee commodities in Java was. In 1913, it was noted that the Dutch colonial government recorded 25,852 tons of export of coffee ore from the Dutch East Indies worth 16 million guilders or 437 million dollar in todays money. Most of the traders were dominated by Europeans, however  in the early 20th century a non-European trader emerged from Semarang, as well manage into the ranks of world-class coffee traders from the Dutch East Indies, present days Indonesia. It was Tan Tiong Ie, born in Semarang in 1883 initially tried His luck as a salt trader. Unfortunately,  the business went into bankruptcy and forced Him to move to Bandung and open a bakery. Tan Tiong Ie then returned to his hometown, Semarang and opened an ice plant factory, and finally in 1928, He begin the business that would perpetuate His name, Margo-redjo Koffie. 

According to Alexander Claver's book titled "Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java: Colonial Relationships in Trade and Finance, 1800-1942", it is stated that Tan Tiong Ie was the first successful Chinese entrepreneur as a coffee trader and producer in the Dutch East Indies. It was also stated that in the times of economic depression that hit the world in 1930s, Margorejo managed to survived during this difficult times. Partly due to product diversification factors run by the company, which is officially named Koffie Branderij Margoredjo, by making various products based on the prices and qualities. The most expensive product is clearly the Margo-redjo brand, and the cheapest one was Tjap Grobak Idjo. Among the two products, there are other brands such as Tjap Pisau, Tjap Orang-Matjoel, Koffie Sentoso, Koffie Mirama and so on.  This was a breakthrough from His oldest son, Tan Liang Ho who has a strong enthusiasm in the marketing and public relation field. He even act as a copywriter as well as designer for Margo-Redjo advertisement. No wonder, once He has a position as the chairman of Radio Vereeniging "Midden Java", one's of the earliest broadcasting network in Dutch East Indies. He's nominated to seat in the board of advisory for Nederlandsce Indies Radio Omroep Maatschappij (NIROM), the government national radio broadcast company in 1936. 

The stand of Margo-Redjo in annual exhibition title
 Jaarmaarktstand in 1929, designed Liem Bwan Tjie.
(source: Stichting BONAS)

The triumph of this company began to recede after the Pacific War, which then spread to the Dutch East Indies and caused the end of Dutch rule which fall into Japanese hands until 1945. In the early days of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies there was a panic among the citizens of Dutch East Indies. Pak Basuki Dharmowijono, grandson of Tan Tiong Ie who is now continuing the sustainability of the Kopi Margorejo business said that His great-grandfather also experienced panic when Japan began to enter the Dutch East Indies. He mentioned in His story over that hard period that His Grandfather decide to moved the machines to the Sultanate of Surakarta Palace in Solo to prevent it to be plundered by Japanese.

After Indonesia's independence and the chaotic period during the Revolution for Independence that lasted until the beginning of 1950, it seems difficult for Margo-redjo to regain its position like before, as a major coffee producer and distributor. But the glory of Margo-redjo Coffee in the old days still can be found on Jalan Wotgandul Timur 14, a two-story house with an Indisch architecture. In the same place currently Pak Basuki continues His grandfather legacy with its new name, Dharma Boutique Roastery (DBR), right in where the business started, not so far from Chinatown of Semarang. In the place that also widely known as Rumah Kopi (eng:House of Coffee), a variety of raw coffee ore is processed and then marketed in the form of ore that has been roasted. A wide selection of Indonesian coffee ores ranging from Robusta and Arabica type of Coffee from various locations in Indonesia such as Bengkulu, Gayo-Aceh, Mandailing, Flores, etc. are available here. This outlet serves its customers mainly from various cafes in Semarang from 09.00 to 15.00.