PT Nestle defends its Tangerang distributor
PT Nestle defends its Tangerang distributor
JAKARTA (JP): PT Nestle Indonesia, one of the country's
largest milk producers, denied yesterday that its Tangerang-based
distributor PT Pangan Elok Mandiri housed stockpiles of its
products.
The company's vice president, Rudianto, said the products
which were allegedly hoarded by the distributor consisted of
reserve products to be used in anticipation of any demand
fluctuations.
"It was done with the consent of PT Nestle. It's not
stockpiling," he said.
On Friday, Tangerang Police and military district personnel
broke into four warehouses in Tangerang which were believed to be
hoarding basic commodities, including milk, cooking oil, instant
noodles and wheat flour.
Three of the warehouses, including PT Pangan Elok Mandiri's,
were sealed. PT Sekawan Pangan Jaya, PT Kumpul and PT Sumber
Cisadane owned the remaining premises.
The sealed warehouses were reopened Sunday as Tangerang Police
could not prove they had been used for product stockpiling.
The government announced recently that hoarding goods deemed
to be one of the nine basic commodities was against the law.
These items are rice, sugar, salt, detergent, kerosene, synthetic
fabric, unbleached cloth, cooking oil and salted fish.
The warehouses owned by PT Pangan Elok Mandiri and PT Kumpul
are located on Jl. Imam Bonjol, one of the town's main
thoroughfares, while the other two are in Pasar Anyer traditional
market and on Jl. Hasyim Ashari in Cipondoh.
Police also questioned five people for allegedly hoarding the
products for their own interests.
Rudianto said PT Nestle continuously monitored the
distribution chain of its products.
"If distributors fail to follow procedures, such as
stockpiling and raising prices arbitrarily, we will revoke their
agreement with us," he said.
Since the economic crisis began in July, PT Nestle has revoked
an agreement with one of its distributors for stockpiling, he
said, without providing further details.
Rudianto explained that the prices of PT Nestle's products
have increased about 140 percent in seven months.
He said the rise was unavoidable due to the skyrocketing
prices of raw materials after the sharp fall of rupiah against
the U.S. dollar.
Sixty percent to 70 percent of the materials used for milk
products are imported, he said. (jun)