Indonesia set to export more instant noodles<\/p>\n
By Riyadi<\/p>\n
NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Indonesia should be able to export more
\ninstant noodles in the coming years following the government's
\napprovals for the operation of 13 new noodles companies, a senior
\nofficial at the Ministry of Industry and Trade said here on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
Director General of Chemical, Agriculture and Forest Products
\nIndustries Gatot Ibnu Santosa said Indonesia, the world's second
\nlargest instant noodles producer after China, could not export
\nsignificant amounts of noodles due to the fast growth of domestic
\nconsumption in the past.<\/p>\n
\"Except last year, consumption had always exceeded production
\nsince 1990. That's why we could not export significant amounts of
\ninstant noodles,\" Gatot told the opening of the second World
\nRamen Summit, organized by the International Ramen Manufacturers
\nAssociation (IRMA). 'Ramen' is the Japanese word for noodles.<\/p>\n
More than 100 executives of instant noodle producers from 12
\ncountries participated in the two-day event.<\/p>\n
Currently, Indonesia has 16 instant noodles producers
\noperating in 11 provinces, producing 8.6 billion packs or
\nservings per annum with more than 50 brands. The giant PT
\nIndofood Sukses Makmur dominates the market with more than 90
\npercent.<\/p>\n
When the 13 new companies start production after the turn of
\nthe century, Gatot said, they would contribute 68 percent more
\noutput.<\/p>\n
Indofood president Eva Riyanti Hutapea, also the newly-elected
\ndirector general of IRMA for a two-year term, said exports had
\nbecome an attractive alternative following slumping domestic
\ndemand.<\/p>\n
But she warned that Indonesian noodles producers needed to
\nimprove the quality of their products if they wanted to enter the
\nworld market.<\/p>\n
\"That's why we want to have an international standard for
\nnoodles. That would become one of my priorities in IRMA,\" she
\ntold journalists on the sidelines of the summit.<\/p>\n
The two-day summit has also drafted proposals on instant
\nnoodle standards to be presented to Codex Alimentarius, the Rome-
\nbased body which sets global food products standards. Codex,
\nwhich operates under the Food and Agricultural Organization and
\nWorld Health Organization, is currently drafting international
\nhygiene and food standards for noodles.<\/p>\n
Eva also noted that Indofood was still firm with its proposal
\nthat the new international standards for noodles should also
\ninclude a clause that requires all noodles to be produced in line
\nwith Islamic halal dietary laws.<\/p>\n
If the proposal of making the halal certification becomes
\ncompulsory, international noodle producers who want to sell their
\nnoodles in Indonesia would also have to have the halal label on
\ntheir products.<\/p>\n
The halal certificate is awarded to food products that pass a
\nseries of laboratory tests based on Islamic principles.<\/p>\n
Eva rejected an argument that the halal certification would
\nserve as a trade barrier for foreign noodle producers trying to
\nenter Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Look, we are only taking care of the 90 percent of our
\nconsumers who are Muslim. They are most concerned about this
\nhalal label,\" she said.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, instant noodles first hit the market in 1969
\nwith the Supermi brand produced by PT Lima Satu Sankyu Industri
\nPangan. But instant noodles did not achieve wider popularity
\namong the people until the early 1980s when local flavor products
\nwere introduced.<\/p>\n
Since then consumption has kept growing at the rate of around
\n10 percent per annum, reaching a high point in 1997 at about 8.7
\nbillion packs, before sinking to about 8 billion packs last year
\nwhen the effects of the economic crisis started to bite the
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
Currently, Indonesia's instant noodles consumption per capita
\nstood at 39.1 packs last year, down from 42.3 packs in 1997. The
\nfigure is expected to recover slightly to 41.9 percent this year.<\/p>\n
According to Indofood, the favorite flavors are Onion Chicken,
\nSpecial Fried Noodles, Chicken Soto and Special Chicken, followed
\nby meatballs and chicken curry.<\/p>\n
\"It is obvious that chicken-based flavors are the most
\nacceptable flavors among Indonesian consumers,\" Christ Iwan
\nArsianto of Indofood, who presented the development of Indonesian
\ninstant noodles industry at the summit.<\/p>\n
Momofuku Ando, the founder of instant noodles and chairman of
\nNissin Food Co Ltd of Japan, agreed and said that chicken flavor
\nis the most acceptable instant noodles flavor not only in
\nIndonesia but also across the world.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-set-to-export-more-instant-noodles-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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