The Food and Beverage Industry (mamin) has become one of the most important sectors that supports the performance of the non-oil and gas processing industry in Indonesia. In the first quarter of 2022, the food and beverage industry contributed more than a third or 37.77% of the GDP of the non-oil and gas processing industry.
The Director General of Agro Industry of the Ministry of Industry, Putu Juli Ardika said “The food and beverage industry grew by 3.75% in the first quarter of 2022, higher than the similar period last year at 2.45%. The food and beverage industry is one sector that gets development priorities according to the Making Indonesia 4.0 roadmap.”
In terms of exports, total value of Indonesia’s food and beverage exports in the first quarter 2022 reached US$10.92 billion and this represented a trade surplus as imports of food and beverage products reached US$3.92 billion the same period.
During the same quarter 2022, investments in the food and beverage industry reached Rp 19.17 trillion (US$1.28 billion).
To reduce the impact of the pandemic, the Indonesian government has launched the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program which aims to protect, maintain, and improve the economic capacity of business actors in running their businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the implementation of this policy, it is hoped that the performance of the food and beverage industry, which before the pandemic was able to grow by around 7% to 9%, can return to pre-pandemic levels or better.
Meanwhile, several PEN policies have been issued by the government, including the provision of Government Borne Import Duties for several raw material commodities for the food and beverage industry in 2021. The aim is to encourage increased utility and industrial competitiveness, especially during the pandemic.
The government has also imposed earlier this year a one-price policy for palm cooking oil, which was then supported by the subsidised bulk cooking oil distribution policy by BPDKS which succeeded in accelerating distribution to reduce the scarcity of bulk cooking oil.
Another strategic policy is that the Ministry of Industry has encouraged the provision of a Certain Natural Gas Price (HGBT) facility of US$6 per MMBTU for the food and beverage industry sector in 2022. This effort will reduce production costs and increase the competitiveness of the food and beverage industry products.
The Indonesian government is trying to reduce high global inflationary pressures, especially those caused by food and beverage products. Putu added, “Efforts are needed to control inflation, so that our people’s purchasing power remains good, and the industrial sector can grow steadily.”
Indonesia also has a wealth of natural resources that have the potential for food development such as sago, coconut and cassava.
