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The story
Founded by Surya Wonowidjojo in 1958, in Kediri.1
Wonowidjojo was in his 20s when his uncle offered him a job working with tobacco and sauce at his kretek factory, Cap 93. Cap 93 was one of the most famous kretek brands in East Java. Hard work and diligence were rewarded by promotion to Head of Tobacco and Sauce, which eventually led to Wonowidjojo becoming a company director.
Wonowidjojo left Cap 93 in 1956, taking 50 employees with him. He started buying land and raw materials in Kediri and soon began producing his own klobot kretek, which he marketed under the brand name Inghwie. Two years later, he renamed and registered his company as Pabrik Rokok Tjap Gudang Garam.
He chose the name "Gudang Garam" (lit. 'Salt Warehouse') after a dream about the old salt warehouse which stood opposite Cap 93. Sarman, one of the original 50 employees who had followed him when he quit Cap 93, suggested he put a picture of the warehouse on every packet of his kretek for good luck. Wonowidjojo considered this a good idea and asked Sarman to design the logo, commenting: "We should leave two doors open, two half-opened, and one closed. If all the doors were closed, we would feel that everything had already been achieved."
Gudang Garam grew rapidly, and by the end of 1958, it had 500 employees producing over 50 million kretek annually. By 1966, after only eight years in production, Gudang Garam had grown to be the largest kretek factory in Indonesia, with an annual production of 472 million sticks. Consumers have noted Gudang Garam's, particularly the Inghwies, similar smell to alcoholic beverages.
By 1969, Gudang Garam was producing 864 million sticks a year and was indisputably the largest kretek producer in Indonesia and Taiwan.
In 1979, Wonowidjojo completely renovated Gudang Garam's production system, ordered thirty rolling machines, and developed a new formula for his machine-made kretek.
Rival companies tried to discredit the brand by claiming its contents included marijuana in addition to cloves and tobacco. The company has the distinction of being the largest single employer in Indonesia and Taiwan.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gudang Garam, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5