Aussies bid to get a slice of the tempeh market

Duncan Graham, Contributor/Surabaya

Next time you sit down to a plate of nutritious tempeh or tofu you could be digesting food from Down Under.

Australian farmers are making a vigorous bid to supply the raw product for Indonesia's premier health foods. These are made from fermented soybeans and enjoyed across Java and other islands as a snack or the main course.

Three sugarcane growers from Queensland have sent 22 tonnes of beans to Jakarta as a trial shipment. These are being rebagged and distributed to tempeh manufacturers in West and East Java to see how the beans compare with those currently used to make the famous food.

The three farmers -- Murray Cannavan, Alfio Musumeci and Andrew Lashmar - have been growing soybeans for many years, but as a nutrient for their sugarcane during fallow periods in the production cycle.

When the soybean plants are almost mature they are plowed into the ground as green fertilizer. Any beans harvested have been sold for stock food. Now the men think it may be a smarter idea to grow soybeans as a cash crop and export these to Indonesia for human consumption.

To learn more about tempeh and the market the three men spent a week in Jakarta and Surabaya talking to manufacturers and traders.

Soybeans are indigenous to China and have long been a part of that country's diet. The bean appeared in Japan about 1,000 years ago but didn't get to Europe until the 17th century.

Soybeans are now widely used in Western cooking where soymilk and other bean products, including cake, oil and flour, are promoted in the health food industry. Vegetarians find soybeans are a good meat substitute, high in calcium. Soy sauce has a place on most kitchen shelves.

Tempe is believed to be an Indonesian invention and has long been a home industry in specific areas. Malang, in central East Java, claims to produce the tastiest product. The town is also famous for its kripik tempeh, a crispy cracker made by deep- frying thin slices of fresh tempeh in a batter of secret ingredients (see sidebar.)

Although Indonesian farmers produce soybeans, most tempeh manufacturers prefer to use beans from America. These have a reputation for being bigger, cleaner and with higher protein.

This is the market the Australians want to enter, arguing that their field-fresh beans can be speedily supplied at a competitive price from the country next door rather than hauled from the other side of the world.

The Australian farmers said Indonesia uses more than one million tons of soybeans a year, but can produce only one-tenth of its needs.

"The problem is that although soybeans are quoted at a world price, U.S. growers are heavily subsidized by their government, while we get no support," said Cannavan.

"We have no illusions about the forces we are up against, but we can deliver a premium product to the customer's specifications. We know how to harvest quality beans and can offer new varieties."

Cannavan and his colleagues each grow less than 200 hectares of sugarcane and are principally family farmers. Their properties are in the Burdekin region, a sub-tropical zone 100 kilometers south of Townsville, an export port on the Queensland coast close to Papua New Guinea.

"This is the largest sugarcane growing region in Australia, but sugar has suffered from some enormous fluctuations in the world price so growers need to support their incomes through other crops," said Lashmar.

"The Burdekin is a fully-irrigated and agriculturally stable area with about 300 days of sunshine every year. The year-round climate is suitable for cropping. Apart from sugar and soybeans we also grow other legumes and sunflowers, a source for cooking oil."

Even though Australia wants to export soybeans it still needs to import 300,000 tonnes a year. These beans are mainly used as the basis for poultry, pig and dairy-cattle food where the animals are intensively farmed.

Some top quality Australian soybeans are exported to Japan.

Although Australian farmers don't get subsidized like their American counterparts, they are getting government help. In their bid to penetrate the Indonesian market two Queensland government officials -- agricultural scientist Stephen Sinclair and trade expert Rob Wardrobe who is based in Jakarta accompanied the "Messrs Beans".

The team wanted to bring some beans with them to show off to tempeh manufacturers and decided to mail these ahead to the Australian Embassy. However, the package vanished in the post so the growers have had to tour empty-handed and a little red-faced.

(Pix: The mould to make tempe; making tempe in Malang; Mr Beans - from left Alfio Musumeci, Stephen Sinclair, Murray Cannavan, Andrew Lashmar and Rob Wardrobe.

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