BADUNG, DEWATA.NEWS – Traditional Balinese arak is recording strong sales at the international departure duty free area of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, with thousands of bottles sold each month, according to Bali Governor Wayan Koster.
Speaking on Tuesday (Feb 10), Koster said that Bali-made arak has become one of the best-selling products in the airport’s duty free outlets. He cited data showing that between 6,000 and 7,000 bottles are sold on average each month.
“The product they (the arak producers) make has become a best seller, outperforming global red label brands,” Koster said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting of Bali’s Regional Inflation Control Team (TPID) and the Regional Digitalization Acceleration and Expansion Team (TP2DD), as reported by Antara News Agency.
Retail prices for a bottle of arak at the airport exceed IDR 800,000, he added. However, Koster expressed concern that the business operators holding sales permits in the duty free area are foreign nationals, not domestic entrepreneurs.
“What is less pleasing is that the ones granted permission to sell there are foreign nationals,” he said.
According to Koster, while retail prices are relatively high, the additional income received by coconut and palm sap farmers remains limited. He noted that farmers’ earnings have increased from around IDR 15,000 to IDR 40,000 per unit, or roughly an additional IDR 25,000.
“We are the ones who issued the governor’s regulation, we promoted arak, but when it becomes successful, others gain much larger profits. That is not right,” he said.
The governor stated that he has requested airport management to allocate dedicated retail space for local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to directly sell traditional distilled beverages produced in Bali.
Since September 2025, Bali’s arak production has obtained official manufacturing permits from Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry following discussions with the central government. The permit is managed by the regionally owned enterprise Perumda Kerta Bali Saguna through its subsidiary company structured as a limited liability entity.
Previously, many arak producers faced difficulties securing production licenses and were required to operate under permits held by other business entities. Koster said that the cost of using such permits could reach IDR 100 million, which cooperative-affiliated producers had to pay before starting production.
“The regional company established a limited liability company to operate business-to-business and obtain a special permit. Processing a new permit independently could require tens of billions of rupiah, more than IDR 10 billion. This permit was granted free to the Governor of Bali,” he said.
Arak Bali, a traditional distilled spirit made from fermented palm or coconut sap, has gained increasing recognition as a regulated local product in recent years. The governor’s remarks reflect ongoing efforts to strengthen local industry participation and ensure that economic benefits extend to Bali-based producers and farmers.