Muawwan Daelami, Jakarta – Fast Food Indonesia said the financial strain stemming from last year's boycott of KFC products continues to fade, with the company reporting significantly smaller losses through the third quarter of 2025.
Director Wachjudi Martono acknowledged that pockets of consumer boycotts remain in several regions, though the situation is "much different" from 2024 and early 2025. According to him, the pressure today is mostly on a personal level rather than the organized, group-scale boycott seen previously.
"Things have started to thaw, though traces are still there," Wachjudi said during a recent public expose.
The operator of KFC and Taco Bell recorded a running loss attributable to owners of Rp 239 billion ($14.34 million) in the January-September 2025 period, an improvement from Rp 557 billion a year earlier. Revenue dipped slightly from Rp 3.59 trillion to Rp 3.56 trillion ($213.61 million), while cost of goods sold fell to Rp 1.43 trillion from Rp 1.59 trillion. That pushed gross profit to Rp 2.13 trillion, up from Rp 2.08 trillion in the same period of 2024.
The easing boycott helped FAST sharply reduce its operating loss, which dropped from Rp 585 billion in the first nine months of 2024 to Rp 244 billion in the same period this year.
Wachjudi projected a turnaround in 2026, saying the company does not expect to book profit in 2025 due to ongoing pressure from weakening household purchasing power and rising unemployment.
"Our sales are affected by lower purchasing power and higher unemployment. Some sectors, like manufacturing, still need government stimulus," he said.
Even so, he believes the recovery window remains open as the government pushes to strengthen economic activity, particularly by accelerating budget disbursement at the regional level.
"This is an opportunity for us. More money circulating among the public means the economy will pick up and grow," he said.