Same Same But Different? Indonesia’s Chikuro Sparks Copycat Buzz In Malaysia
A social media user questioned a Malaysian food vendor’s use of a popular chicken roll brand in Indonesia for their stall.
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A post on Threads sparked conversations about copyright issues within the food industry which questioned street food vendors who sell their products under an existing foreign brand’s identity.
The post claimed that Indonesians have spoken out about the unilateral use of a well-known food brand from their country by food vendors here in Malaysia.
“From the brand logo, font, packaging, and menu, everything uses the brand name without an official partnership with the brand.
“Instead of apologising or calling out fellow citizens who did this, many of them are instead mocking Indonesians and bringing up unrelated issues outside the context. Is this kind of thing actually allowed there, that so many people seem to misunderstand what the real issue is?” the Threads user said.
In the post, the user shared pictures of a food vendor selling a stuffed chicken roll under the name “Chikuro”.
Chikuro is an Indonesian brand selling Japanese-inspired fried chicken snacks and has over 80 outlets across their country.
A screenshot of a conversation between the Threads user and the Malaysian Chikuro seller revealed that the outlet is not an official branch of Chikuro, and they admitted that the brand’s official outlets only exist in Indonesia.
“If there is any use of a name or appearance that resembles the brand outside of official affiliations, it has been brought to the attention of our team and we will follow up with further action,” the seller said.
Based on the photos that were shared, the Chikuro in Malaysia does bear significant resemblance to the Chikuro in Indonesia, albeit with minor differences such as in font type.
There was some confusion about Chikuro as a food name
Some social media users pointed out confusion among others who think that Chikuro is the name of the food itself, when it’s actually the name of the brand.
Although this could have been a valid reason under different circumstances, many are still disagreeing with the seller because of the uncanny branding cues they seemingly “copied”.
Chikuro is so popular in Indonesia, there are personal shopping services for it
Chikuro is inspired by recent Japanese culinary trends, which is highly popular in Indonesia right now as they bring gourmet, Japanese-style street food to accessible locations such as local shopping malls.
In fact, they have the most outlets across major shopping malls in Bandung and Jakarta, making it easy to find there.
Its so popular that it sparked a phenomenon where personal shopper services (jastip) are bringing the snack here to Malaysia.
Their menu items include the signature Long-Filled Chicken Roll that’s stuffed with melted cheese, and comes in medium, large, and super large sizes.
They also have beef variations of it (Gyuro), as well as bite-sized versions of the roll (Norimaki) available in chicken, beef, or fish fillings.
Check out Chikuro’s full menu HERE.
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