Aussie firms seek greater share of food market

Aussie firms seek greater share of food market

JAKARTA (JP): Several Australian companies and cooperatives
are holding a three-day food festival here with a view to
expanding their share of the rapidly-expanding foreign food
market.

Senior Australian Trade Commissioner Bruce Wallace stated at
the opening ceremony yesterday, which was also attended by
Adiwarsita Adinegoro, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), that Indonesian demand for
Australian food has been increasing.

"We see the increasing number of middle class families as the
potential buyers of imported food products," he said at the
ceremony, which was held at Pondok Indah Mall in South Jakarta.

The festival, called "Quality Food from Natural Australia", is
being organized by Clean Food Marketing Australia Limited, a
joint venture between the Australian government and the
Australian food industry.

The food festival, with 11 Australian companies and
cooperatives pitching in, features dairy products, fresh and
canned fruits, fresh meat, frozen cakes, sea-food products,
canned fruit, baby foods, wines, milk products, jams, ice magic
and toppings.

Major consumer

Australian Trade Commissioner Philip Thomason told The Jakarta
Post that Indonesia is an important consumer of processed food
and beverage products from Australia.

"Australia mostly export meat, dairy products and perishable
produce to Indonesia," he said.

He pointed out that with the increasing expansion of modern
retailing and the growing interest in Western convenience type
products on the part of Indonesian consumers, demand for quality
processed food products -- from local and foreign sources -- will
continue to increase.

Fresh fruit imported by Indonesia from Australia include
mandarins, apples, pears, grapes and niche products such as
blueberries.

"Already, several Australian companies are working together
with Indonesian partners to produce food products in Indonesia
for the local market and for exports," Thomason said, adding that
such ventures include the local manufacture of biscuits, cooking
oils and fresh fruit juices.

According to the latest data from Austrade, Indonesia's import
of unprocessed food from Australia had been increasing during the
period of 1992 to 1994. In 1992, the import was recorded at
A$36.04 million (US$6.21 million). It increased to A$68.16
million in 1993 and to A$98.37 million in 1994.

During the same period, Indonesia also saw its import of
processed food from Australia increasing from A$101.07 million in
1992 to A$174.62 million in 1993 and to A$231.38 million in 1994.

Asked by reporters on Indonesian efforts to reduce consumer
goods imports, Adiwarsita Adinegoro said that the Indonesian
government cannot simply ask consumers not to buy imported
products.

"We have to commit ourselves to the free market principle as
adopted by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and
the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as in the ASEAN Free
Trade Area (AFTA)," he pointed out.

The Indonesian government recently announced its' intention to
reduce the rate of its import growth, particularly that of
consumer goods, from more than 30 percent last year to about 11
percent in an effort to reduce its current account deficit during
the next (1996/1997) fiscal year.

Indonesia estimates its current account deficit to reach
US$7.9 billion in the current fiscal year to March. (13)