The food and beverage industry in Indonesia is weakening. (Image via Ekonomi Bisnis)

Food and beverage will grow only by 8 percent in 2019: Indonesia’s Industry Ministry

Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) doubted that the growth of the food and beverage industry will reach the target set by the Indonesian government for 2019. Kemenperin projected that the industry would flourish only by 8 percent or below the target.

General-Director for Agro-based Industry at Kemenperin, Abdul Rochim, in an interview with Antara said that it is difficult for the industry to exceed 9 percent growth, noting its performance in the first semester of 2019.

For the Q1 of 2019, the food and beverage industry only grew by 7.4 percent, affected by the presidential and legislative general election. Due to the general elections, Rochim said that the investors postponed their investment to wait and see the results. Fortunately, the industry came back on track during the Q2 of 2019.

However, from January to September 2019, cumulatively calculated, the food and beverage industry only grew by 7.9 percent. The figure stood lower than the amount in Q3 of 2019 when the industry recorded an 8.33 percent growth.

Rochim sparked a little bit of hope when he said that there were still Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. On two occasions, the industry might see a bit of growth once more.

For 2020, the Indonesian government still sets the same target for the food and industry: a 9 percent growth. Rochim vowed to sustain the raw materials to fulfill the target.

Source: https://bit.ly/33IXkwg