Cooperative Minister Emphasises Importance of Cooperatives Entering Sugar Industry Ecosystem
The Minister of Cooperatives, Ferry Juliantono, has expressed his appreciation for the partnership between KANA Lautan Berkat Consumer Cooperative, Sugarcane Farmers Cooperatives, Putra Harapan Jaya Kediri Marketing Cooperative, and PT Indogula Jayabaya in supporting the strengthening of the national sugar industry.
He also stated that both the KANA Consumer Cooperative and sugarcane farmers’ cooperatives should involve the growing number of local sugarcane farmers and prioritise hiring workers from the surrounding areas. “This way, the resulting income can improve farmers’ welfare and strengthen the local economy around the industry, specifically in Kediri Regency,” Ferry said in a written statement on Saturday.
Ferry made these remarks during a visit to PT Indogula Jayabaya in Kras District, Kediri Regency, East Java. He explained that partnerships between farmers, cooperatives, and industry are vital because sugar is a strategic commodity directly linked to food security and public welfare.
Currently, Indonesia faces challenges in meeting national sugar demand. National sugar production in 2025 reached approximately 2.67 million tonnes, while national demand stands at around 9.1 million tonnes per year. This gap indicates a significant opportunity to increase national sugarcane and sugar production, providing space to strengthen the roles of farmers, cooperatives, and industry.
“The government has targeted self-sufficiency in consumption sugar by 2028. To achieve this, integrated strengthening of the sector from upstream to downstream is required,” he noted.
He assessed that the primary challenge for sugarcane farmers is not just increasing production, but also securing market certainty, harvest absorption, and profitable business continuity. In this context, cooperatives play a strategic role as offtakers that collect farmers’ harvests, strengthen members’ bargaining power, and guarantee supply continuity for the industry.
Ferry highlighted that the partnership between KANA Cooperative, Sugarcane Farmers Cooperatives, and PT Indogula Jayabaya serves as a concrete example of how cooperatives act as a bridge between grassroots production and national industrial needs. “Moving forward, cooperatives must not only function as harvest collectors but must upgrade to become business entities capable of creating added value for their members,”
He added that he is encouraging cooperatives to return to productive sectors. For instance, if KANA Cooperative can produce white or brown sugar, it could be sold through the Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperatives. “Furthermore, they could establish soy sauce factories using brown sugar as an ingredient, with the product sold through the same village cooperatives. This means we can build a sugarcane farmer ecosystem. Additionally, as desired by the President, cooperatives should become business entities that are as competitive as private or state-owned enterprises,”
Furthermore, the LPDB, the Public Service Agency (BLU) under the Ministry of Cooperatives, will assist in providing financing for the business development of the KANA Cooperative.
The Chairman of KANA Consumer Cooperative, Jonathan Danang Wardhana, added that the collaboration with the Putra Harapan Jaya Kediri Marketing Cooperative is a significant momentum, representing a real step towards uniting farmers and cooperatives. Through this cooperation, they aim to demonstrate that cooperatives will be key players in the production, processing, and distribution sectors.
“In this development process, we have also gained the trust of international partners who see the potential of Indonesia’s real sector cooperatives. We have built a partnership from Switzerland, which provides further motivation to expand our capacity, increase employment benefits, and present an increasingly professional and competitive cooperative business model,”
The Chairman of the Putra Harapan Jaya Kediri Marketing Cooperative, Desi Permatasari, explained that the collaboration is a concrete step towards building mutually beneficial synergy between farmers and economic actors, ultimately enhancing welfare and supporting national sugar growth.