The food and beverage (F&B) industry consistently contribute significantly to national economic growth. Even amidst the pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, the performance of the F&B industry remains brilliant because it is a critical sector whose productivity is maintained. “The F&B industry is also one of the sectors that have high demand during the pandemic. This is because people still need to consume nutritious food to increase their body's immunity in an effort to maintain health," said Acting Director-General of Agro-Industry, Ministry of Industry, Putu Juli Ardika in Jakarta, Tuesday (14/12). He said that the GDP of the F&B industry grew positively by 3.49 percent in the third quarter of 2021. This was in line with the national economic growth which returned to positive growth, touching the figure of 3.51 percent. In addition, the role of the F&B industry in accelerating the national economic recovery is also shown by the increasing contribution of the F&B industry's GDP to the GDP of the non-oil and gas processing industry which reached 38.91 percent in the same period. "During January to September 2021, the total export value of the F&B industry reached 32.51 billion US dollars, an increase of 52 percent over the same period in 2020. The trade balance of the F&B industry during these nine months was a surplus of 22.38 billion US dollars," he said.
Putu said that although the food and beverage industry sector continues to show a positive growth trend, the government and industry players must still be prepared to anticipate and overcome the challenges of food and energy availability. Moreover, based on the Making Indonesia 4.0 roadmap, the F&B industry is one of the sectors that get priority development in the industrial era 4.0. "Restrictions on activities during the pandemic affect the traffic of goods and commodities between countries which have an impact on food supplies. Especially commodities that are still heavily imported, as stated in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report," he explained. Therefore, strategies to overcome these challenges include the construction of food estates, preparation of cold storage, and cold chains. “The lesson from the energy crisis that is happening in the world today is the unpreparedness of a number of countries in making the transition from fossil energy to environmentally friendly energy. We need to anticipate that this does not happen in Indonesia,” he said.
At the Inauguration of the New Office of PT Danone Indonesia, the Acting Director-General of Agro-Industry expressed his appreciation to Danone Indonesia as one of the large F&B industrial groups in the country that has contributed to supporting national economic growth. More than 28 factories under the Danone Group operate in various parts of Indonesia to produce bottled drinking water, soft drinks, and formula milk, by absorbing a workforce of 15,000 people. “I also give my highest appreciation to Danone Indonesia for its commitment to an environmentally-oriented development process through the use of new and renewable energy in the form of installing rooftop solar panels at its four factory locations with a total capacity of 6.2 MWP. At the same time, it can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 6,531 tons per year," said Putu. "We also appreciate that Danone Indonesia's new office is designed to meet health protocol standards and is in accordance with what the Government expects so that the industrial sector continues to strive to control the spread of Covid-19. This is in accordance with the Circular Letter of the Minister of Industry Number 5 of 2021 concerning changes to the Circular Letter of the Minister of Industry Number 3 of 2021 concerning Operational Permits and Mobility of Industrial Activities during the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency Period," he continued.
Danone Indonesia's commitment to environmental aspects is also evidenced by the achievement of the highest level green industry award (level 5) for 12 of its factories at the 2021 Green Industry Award Award ceremony, as well as the acquisition of 2 Gold PROPER ratings and 8 Green PROPER ratings in 2020. VP General Secretary of Danone Indonesia, Vera Galuh Sugijanto said, "Danone Indonesia is moved to create a safer, more comfortable and healthy work environment for its employees, namely offices that support new ways of working, including less hierarchy, innovation, and collaboration. “Our new headquarters in the RDTX building was designed according to the vision of One Planet One Health (OPOH). Danone Indonesia is always committed to being able to actively contribute in realizing a healthier life for the community, including the office as a work environment for our employees," she explained.
