Tempe industry needs modernizing: Tunky

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo says Indonesia needs to modernize its tempe industry to keep pace with the growing popularity of the soybean-based food both here and abroad.

In his keynote address to a seminar on soybean consumption on Saturday, Tunky called for caution in government approaches to the tempe industry, which is still largely based on traditional methods and small-scale production.

"We need to allocate special and serious attention to this matter, because, on the one hand we need to preserve the tempe industry -- which is run largely by the people, provides quite a lot of employment and provides additional revenues to families -- but, on the other hand, the tempe industry needs to be modernized to meet the challenges of the globalization era," the minister said in his speech, which was read by Director General of Agricultural Processing Industry Anang Lukmana.

For generations, the fermented soybean cake has been an important part of the Indonesian diet, particularly in Java, where the processing method was developed.

Once considered an inferior meat substitute, tempe is gaining in popularity, both in Indonesia and abroad, because it is high in protein and low in cholesterol.

Tunky said that in 1994 there were 94,000 small-scale or household industries manufacturing tempe in Indonesia, employing a total of 266,000 people.

Value added is high in the tempe industry, Tunky said, with the Rp 1,410 billion ($613 million) spent on raw materials being used to create products worth Rp 6,345 billion ($2.8 million).

Because of the huge demand of tempe and other soybean-based products, Indonesia consumes 2.3 million tons of soybeans per annum, of which 600,000 tons are imported from China, Brazil, Argentina and the United States.

K.D.R. Setchell, a professor in the department of pediatrics of the University of Cincinatti in the United States, told Saturday's seminar that soy protein has been proven to actually lower a person's cholesterol level.

There are also circumstantial indications that soybeans prevent cancer and cardiovascular diseases, Sethcell said.

"There is no question that soybean protein lowers cholesterol and is beneficial in preventing cancer and cardiovascular diseases," he said.

The seminar was jointly sponsored by the ministry of industry, the ministry of food affairs and the American Soybean Association. It was held at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and attended by participants representing the government, the private sector and health experts.

Setchell said that research on animals has shown soybeans to also be very effective in preventing diabetes and kidney disease.

Unlike Indonesia and most other Asian countries, in which soybeans are a nutritional mainstay, in the U.S. the beans have been used mostly for animal feed, he said.

"Many diseases that are a major cause of death in the United States have a very low incidence in Asia," Setchell said, adding that he hoped that his research would prove that biologically active contents of soybeans explain that fact.

"We are trying to convince Americans and the Western world in general that there are tremendous benefits to be had from including soybeans in the diet," he said. (03)