Indofood to keep prices steady
PT Indofood Sukses Makmur said Monday the company would not increase the prices of its flour-based products until the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan despite the soaring wheat price.
"We want to keep the prices steady until Ramadhan," Indofood vice president told reporters on the sidelines of the Indofood Nugraha Research program launch in South Jakarta.
The fasting month starts in September and ends in early October.
Fransiscus said the price of wheat -- a key ingredient in the products of the world's largest instant noodle maker -- had reached US$500 per ton around the world, more than twice its price before the dramatic rise of crude oil prices began in June last year, pushing up the prices of other primary commodities.
However, Fransiscus said the company was only slightly affected by the increase in crude oil prices because the company had shifted to alternative sources of energy such as gas and coal.
"In the last two years, around 60 to 70 percent of our energy consumption has been from gas and coal," he said.
Indofood's net profit in the first semester of last year was up 37.1 percent from Rp 267.77 billion (about US$29.25 million) in 2006.
The sales of flour-based products make up around 35 percent of the company's total sales, said corporate secretary Clara Suryono.
An expert in the socioeconomic aspects of farming Prof. Bustanul Arifin said the increases in foodstuff prices were similar to those of the 1930s recession.
"The Food and Agriculture Organization and the WHO have agreed that the increases are not temporary. Each commodity is increasing in price, and, along with that, oil prices are also increasing," he said.
Bustanul is one of eight experts on the judging committee for Indofood's research program that offers a total of Rp 1 billion in research grants for academics, including undergraduate students and lecturers.
"As one of the largest companies in Indonesia, we want to promote food resilience in the country by endorsing research," said Fransiscus.
The research began in 1998 with the first program, "Wheat 2000", and has become one of the most successful agriculture research programs in the country.
In Pasuruan, East Java, the program had increased the productivity of wheat farming to 3.5 tons of wheat per hectare, which researchers said was better than in India where the same wheat variety could produce only 2.5 tons per hectare.
This year's program invites university students and lecturers in the country to develop studies on 10 basic commodities: cassava, crude palm oil, sago, sweet potato, banana, corn, wheat, arrowroot, potato and soybeans.
Using the 10 commodities, participants can develop research in the fields of food production and technology or people's health and welfare.
Bustanul said the program might help the country in overcoming food stock shortages in the next couple of years. (lva/dia)
"We want to keep the prices steady until Ramadhan," Indofood vice president told reporters on the sidelines of the Indofood Nugraha Research program launch in South Jakarta.
The fasting month starts in September and ends in early October.
Fransiscus said the price of wheat -- a key ingredient in the products of the world's largest instant noodle maker -- had reached US$500 per ton around the world, more than twice its price before the dramatic rise of crude oil prices began in June last year, pushing up the prices of other primary commodities.
However, Fransiscus said the company was only slightly affected by the increase in crude oil prices because the company had shifted to alternative sources of energy such as gas and coal.
"In the last two years, around 60 to 70 percent of our energy consumption has been from gas and coal," he said.
Indofood's net profit in the first semester of last year was up 37.1 percent from Rp 267.77 billion (about US$29.25 million) in 2006.
The sales of flour-based products make up around 35 percent of the company's total sales, said corporate secretary Clara Suryono.
An expert in the socioeconomic aspects of farming Prof. Bustanul Arifin said the increases in foodstuff prices were similar to those of the 1930s recession.
"The Food and Agriculture Organization and the WHO have agreed that the increases are not temporary. Each commodity is increasing in price, and, along with that, oil prices are also increasing," he said.
Bustanul is one of eight experts on the judging committee for Indofood's research program that offers a total of Rp 1 billion in research grants for academics, including undergraduate students and lecturers.
"As one of the largest companies in Indonesia, we want to promote food resilience in the country by endorsing research," said Fransiscus.
The research began in 1998 with the first program, "Wheat 2000", and has become one of the most successful agriculture research programs in the country.
In Pasuruan, East Java, the program had increased the productivity of wheat farming to 3.5 tons of wheat per hectare, which researchers said was better than in India where the same wheat variety could produce only 2.5 tons per hectare.
This year's program invites university students and lecturers in the country to develop studies on 10 basic commodities: cassava, crude palm oil, sago, sweet potato, banana, corn, wheat, arrowroot, potato and soybeans.
Using the 10 commodities, participants can develop research in the fields of food production and technology or people's health and welfare.
Bustanul said the program might help the country in overcoming food stock shortages in the next couple of years. (lva/dia)