During the first week of December, Italian marketing and research agency Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO) organised a special fact-finding mission to Indonesia offer a better understanding of the Asian country's fresh produce business and to seek out new potential buyers for Italian fruit and vegetables.
Indonesia is one of the world’s most heavily populated countries, having recently surpassed 240m inhabitants to become the world’s fourth-largest country in terms of population after China, India and the United States. Around half of that population is located on the island of Java, which is also home to the capitaly city Jakarta. Furthermore, over 50 per cent of Indonesians are aged between five and 34 years old, with around 70 per cent of inhabitants practising Islam.
As regards the distribution of fresh fruit grown in Indonesia, this tends to be limited to the areas of production themselves. Growing and processing techniques are still underdeveloped, meaning that local producers cannot achieve the economies of scale needed to earn larger profits. The main products are bananas, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, papayas, avocados and melons.
Although the traditional markets still dominate the Indonesian distribution scene, the modern distribution channel is growing strongly. In fact, traditional points of sale like wet markets and small, independent grocery stores are gradually conceding ground to the major retailers.
Our recent visit to the country enabled those participating – key players from the Italian export business – to meet the local fresh produce sector’s key players, among them the main importers, retail chains, import associations, the fresh fruit and vegetable wholesale market and the directors of the local agriculture ministry.
The mission was successful and is expected to increase imports of our principal products such as apples and kiwifruit soon.
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