Name : Fitria Nur Laily

ID : 19320001
Class : Cultural Studies – B

The Analysis of 'Mangkok ku' uses the Concepts of; Politics of Taste and Capitals

What would you do if you bought ready-to-eat food products from famous people in
Indonesia? Ready-to-eat food is cooked food which we as consumers do not need to reprocess,
usually available in stalls, restaurants and so on which can be eaten on the spot or take away. In
Indonesia itself, of course, there are many stalls and restaurants that stand from stalls owned by
ordinary people to restaurants owned by famous artists or chefs. One of the ready-to-eat
restaurants/brands that are loved by people in Indonesia is the one founded by 4 well-known
people, namely the ‘Mangkok ku’ brand. The culinary business has started to boom since its
establishment in 2019 during the pandemic, especially now that it is getting better and will build
again from 22 to 30 branches in Indonesia. In this regard, the author will analyze more deeply
about the food brand by using the concept of ‘Politics Taste and Capitals’.
‘Mangkok ku’ is loved by people with middle and upper social class. ‘Mangkok ku’ is a
food brand with the characteristic of packaging using a bowl style which has many Indonesian
culinary choices on the menu. ‘Mangkok ku’ is very suitable for the middle and upper social class
because in terms of millennial packaging, it is simple and easy to carry anywhere or eat anywhere.
In addition, this food brand has a price that can be said to be expensive with a portion size like the
picture that can cost around 35k. So people with middle to lower social class are reluctant to eat
these foods because the prices are relatively expensive compared to food stalls such as Nasi
Padang, which costs 15k per serving but is wrapped in ordinary oil paper. So, upper middle class
people have more taste for this food brand in terms of taste, price and packaging compared to lower
middle class people. With this, it can be concluded that upper-middle class people still pay
attention to quality in choosing food compared to lower-middle people who prefer quantity with
cheap and filling prices.
‘Mangkok ku’ is a favorite food brand for Indonesians. ‘Mangkok ku’ is a ready-to-eat food
with a mainstay menu of white rice and chili sauce. As we know that the culture of Indonesian
people is that they will be full when they eat white rice or we often hear 'Even though we have
eaten burgers, pizza and meatballs, but it has not been said to have eaten if we don't eat white rice
or usually instant noodles have to be eaten with rice. White'. Some Indonesian tongues are also
very fond of spicy food, where sambal is an additional characteristic of Indonesian food. We can
see in pictures 1 and 2, where in the tweets and tweets there are two people who are reviewing the
food with both of them compactly saying about white rice ‘..... dan nasi putih!!! Terbaik’; ‘jarang
bgt dapat tempat makan yg nasinya pulen begini, nice’ and also the chili sauce ‘Yaallah enak bgt
abis makan sum-sum + daging pake sambal bawang....’; ‘sambelnya ga lebay pedesnya’. That
way we can conclude that the ‘Mangkok ku’ brand can be very loved by Indonesian tongues
because this rice bowl restaurant is contemporary which carries local flavors, such as those
identical to white rice and chili sauce.
This local food brand has a very wide network of relationships, starting from its consumers
to the injection of funds. Building relationships in the business world is important for the progress
of a business. When it comes to social capital, ‘Mangkok ku’ has a strong relationship to be able
to compete in the Indonesian culinary world because its founder is a well-known chef in Indonesia,
namely Chef Arnold and also a young entrepreneur named Randy Kartanidata who also
collaborates with the president's two sons, namely Gibran and Kaesang. . So that their cooperation
will have a very good impact on the introduction/progress of these food products among the
Indonesian people because many people know them, making it easier for them to promote their
business. Apart from that, to expand their relationship, ‘Mangkok ku’ several times gave free food
as shown in picture 3 which gives to health workers and picture 4 gives it to several people, which
in this way can be used as a promotional event as well as alms for their brand and useful in
expanding the network of consumers. In addition to having a relationship in terms of consumer
withdrawals, ‘Mangkok ku’ also has a fairly good relationship as economic capital to be able to
provide an injection of funds into their culinary business, which has entered 28.3M from Alpha
JWC so that this business development plan is prepared to strengthen marketing. So, having a wide
network of relationships is the main thing to be able to advance a business.
‘Mangkok ku’ is run by 3 great people in the culinary field in Indonesia. When viewed in
terms of symbolic capital, this ‘Mangkok ku’ is held by three well-known people in the culinary
world where they already have their own culinary businesses which then work together to become
one in this ‘Mangkok ku’. They are Chefs Arnold, Ghibran and Kaesang, which as we know they
are well-known chefs with their highlighted titles and they already have several well-known food
brands. Apart from that, there is a cultural capital that stands out from the three people, namely
that the three of them dared to sell their names for the combined brand so that ‘Mangkok ku’ could
be easily accepted by the tongue of the Indonesian people because the holders of this business are
people who have more abilities in the field culinary. Therefore, with the creations of these famous
chefs, a new menu/taste that is localized today appears like the one they set up in a bowl of food
called 'My Bowl'. Therefore, the role of the three people in relation to cultural and symbolic capital
is related and equally important for the quality of taste in one bowl of ‘Mangkok ku’.
This food brand has become very famous since its inception until now because its taste is
suitable for the culture of the Indonesian people and also some of the existing assets are also closely
related. A food brand with a local theme but still paying attention to the quality of taste and
packaging so that many upper-middle people like this food. The holders of this ‘Mangkok ku’
partnership are great people who are successful in the culinary field so they can easily market their
business among the public. Therefore, we can see which in this business the concept of taste and
capital is very influential for the progress of a food brand.