JAKARTA. The cacao processing industry plays a key role in contributing to the national economic growth. Thus, the government encourages the downstreaming of the national cacao processing industry to produce cocoa powder, cocoa fat, chocolate-based food and beverage, supplement, cocoa-based functional food, and cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.
"The cacao processing industry is part of the food and beverage industry, which is one of the key sectors in the Making Indonesia 4.0 roadmap. This sector also heavily involves SMEs," said Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto on National Cacao Day, Tuesday (17/9).
Currently Indonesia has the third largest cacao processing industry in the world behind Netherlands and Cote d'Ivoire. "Our cacao processing industry has produced cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa cake, and cocoa powder," said Mr Hartarto.
In 2018, 328,329 tonnes or 85% of the aforementioned products were exported with forex contribution amounting to US$ 1.13 billion, while the remaining 15% or 58,341 tonnes were marketed locally.
Based on data from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), Indonesia is the world's sixth largest cocoa producer after Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Cameroon, with production volume of 220,000 tonnes throughout 2018. (AM/MS)