Food is a fundamental needs which have to accessible for everyone. Everyone needs food everyday, so it’s natural that the food industry is also one of the engines of growth for the national economy. In a report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the food industry contributed 3.68% during the second quarter of 2022. This means that the sector will also boost the growth of the manufacturing sector which is now the foundation of national economic growth. According to BPS, the manufacturing industry during the second quarter recorded a growth of 4.01% year on year (yoy). "The food industry plays an important role in achieving the national manufacturing industry growth target," said Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. Data from the Ministry of Industry shows that the food industry sub-sector contributes 38.38% of gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, the food industry sub-sector also contributed greatly to the achievement of the national export value. By breaking through the figure of USD 21.35 billion. “The data shows that the performance of the food industry sector is quite good. Which has also been able to provide a trade balance surplus of USD 12.95 billion," he said.

This might lead to another question, what sub-sectors are included in the food industry category? The five export commodities of the Indonesian food industry are palm oil, palm cake, margarine, coconut oil, and frozen shrimp. Not only contributing to national economic growth, this sub-sector also contributed greatly to investment in the non-oil and gas industry in the second quarter of 2022. Investment in the food industry was recorded at IDR 22.42 trillion. Business actors investing in the food industry include the bread, flour and palm oil industries. In addition, referring to data from the Ministry of Industry, the absorption of labor in the food industry is quite large, reaching 5.21 million people. Aau contributed 20.87% of the total workforce in the non-oil and gas manufacturing sector which reached 18.64 million people. The food industry sub-sector does not only consist of large-scale industrial players but the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the sub-sector is also quite large. The food industry SMEs sub-sector has now reached 1.68 million business units, which contributed 1.33% to the national GDP in the second quarter of 2022. For the development and improvement of the competitiveness of food SMEs, the Ministry of Industry has implemented various programs through the SMEs center approach. It is known, there are similarities that are owned by SMEs actors, namely they have similarities in the needs of raw materials, characteristics of the production process, and the needs of human resources. Responding to the situations, The Ministry of Industry provides technical support for the development of SMEs centers, through efforts to utilize technology for raw material readiness, product downstream branding, SMEs business management, quality systems, technical production, packaging and traceability including support for industry 4.0 in SMEs centers.

Source: https://www.minews.id/news/industri-pangan-jadi-motor-pertumbuhan-ekonomi-nasional