KBRN, Jakarta: The Ministry of Creative Economy (Kemenekraf) and the Islamic Chef & Culinary of Indonesia (ICCI) are exploring collaboration to boost Indonesia's halal culinary ecosystem in the global market.

"ICCI can become an extraordinary association, fostered and shaped into an ambassador for halal cuisine because it already has an international network," said Minister of Creative Economy (Ekraf), Teuku Riefky Harsya in a press statement received on Thursday July 3, 2025, as reported by antaranews.com.

ICCI is an organization of Islamic chefs in Indonesia that is verified as a member of the World Platform of Islamic Countries Culinary Societies (WICS). Since its establishment in 2021, it has housed nearly 3,000 members, including professional chefs, culinary practitioners, culinary or tourism institutions, and young chefs.

Minister Teuku said that ICCI has contributed to growing the halal culinary industry, which can be an economic driver and increase state revenue through the export of Indonesian halal culinary products to Muslim-majority countries.

According to him, they can involve ICCI as a strategic partner, linking them with flagship programs within "Asta Ekraf," given that many culinary businesses thrive with halal certification. "For example, Sour Sally, which is owned by a non-Muslim, was able to open outlets in other Islamic countries with the credibility of halal certification. Hopefully, we can make this halal culinary ecosystem more widely known globally," the Creative Economy Minister revealed.

Deputy for Cultural Creativity and Design, Yuke Sri Rahayu, added that ICCI can create jobs and have a significant impact on the economy. "The culinary sub-sector contributes the largest workforce compared to other sub-sectors. For this reason, we encourage collaboration with ICCI as a form of global investment growth and the creation of a very high domestic market for halal food products," Deputy Yuke added.

The Ministry of Creative Economy currently has the Masak Bersama Master (MASAMO) or Cooking Together with Master program, which can involve professional chefs. Additionally, the Ministry of Creative Economy always collaborates with the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Agency (BPJPH) to continue supporting the expansion of Indonesian halal cuisine.

ICCI President, Adie Miartadi said that with this exploratory collaboration, his organization hopes to be part of the culinary culture preservation initiated by the Ministry of Creative Economy. ICCI hopes to be involved in training and skill development programs to improve human resources in the culinary field, thereby assisting product marketing in both domestic and international markets.

"We have created a halal food ecosystem from upstream to downstream, which we hope can align with the programs from the Ministry of Creative Economy. We also want to be part of policy formulation in supporting the growth of the culinary industry and serve as ambassadors for halal creative economy cuisine," he said.

Public relations and Indonesian celebrity chef, Chef Muto, added that halal certification is very important to guarantee the halal-ness of products and increase public trust. "Every culinary product, both food and beverages must have a halal logo and certificate. Every chef must also know how to create halal cuisine so that the public can enjoy food safely and comfortably," said Chef Muto. ***