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Mrs Lilyanti Soewanto

I started the company in 1972 just as a backyard farm as it was not really a popular or large scale industry in Indonesia at that time. We began with making feed for ourselves for use on the farm and then found that there were so many potential customers from the surrounding farms so we saw this as a big business opportunity. We expanded and moved to new premises in Larangan and then to the current premises in Bogor in 1985; at this time we were only making poultry feed. Nobody in the Indonesian market was producing feed for freshwater fish so we also moved into this as there was also a lot of potential in Indonesia. We began producing up to 500 kg of feed to fulfil market demand and now as demand has grown rapidly, especially in West Java, we have expanded our capacity accordingly. Today, Sinta Prima Feedmill is positioned as a leading producer of freshwater fish feed in Indonesia.

In 1995 we also began producing a floating fish feed; this is another technique used in producing fish feed and as a pioneer in the sector, we have captured a significant market share in Indonesia.

Sinta Prima Feedmill relies on its strong distribution channels throughout Indonesia. Our agents are positioned in the suburbs and agricultural regions across the country. The agents are very loyal to the company and have been supplying only Sinta Prima Feedmill products for over 20 years as opposed to also distributing other feed brands.

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Mrs Lilyanti Soewanto

The economic growth in Indonesia is fuelling the need for meals that offer a higher level of nutrition compared to the past. Consumer knowledge of nutritional health has also increased and therefore more people are purchasing white meat and including it as part of their diet. In the past as well, the Indonesian consumer has always preferred white meat over red meat. In West Java, there is also a preference for fresh water fish such as cat fish, carp and tilapia which is widely sold in the ‘warungs’ as well as fried chicken as these are very cheap food items and therefore affordable to most people. Together this is contributing to greater demand for fish and poultry in the Indonesian market.

In Indonesia, the per capita consumption of eggs is only 5 kg and only 7 kg for chicken compared to 25 kg of chicken in Malaysia. With Indonesia having such a large population, a small increase of only 1 kg per person would have a huge impact and therefore there is a lot of potential. The average income per capita is also rising so I believe the poultry and fish industry has plenty of scope for further growth.

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Mrs Lilyanti Soewanto

The main challenge that we face is the lack of infrastructure in Indonesia. There is a long distance between factories and customers. From here (Bogor) to Surabaya, trucks have to travel for over 24 hours and therefore we cannot market our products in Surabaya without having a factory based there as delivery would simply take too long. As the transport costs in Indonesia are so high as a result of the poor infrastructure, we have to build more factories to have a presence in the main cities and regions. We therefore have plans to open a factory in Medan, North Sumatra to meet market demand there.

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Mrs Lilyanti Soewanto

Of course for the future we are interested in exporting our products to international markets. Currently, our marine feed is being exported to Singapore through a distributor. The main issue that we face here in Indonesia is that we must use a lot of imported goods to produce the feed such as corn of which we import nearly 2.5 million MET per year. Soybean meal is another product that is not cultivated in Indonesia and is therefore imported from South America. As a result, the feed is made up of approximately 60% imported goods and so before we can consider exporting, the Indonesian government must improve their agricultural management policies to make it commercially viable.

For the future, I think European markets will be our focus as in South East Asia there is already a lot of competition from Vietnam and Thailand. Sinta Prima Feedmill just achieved the international industry accreditation so with this we can export to Europe and we have already had interest from importers there.

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Mrs Lilyanti Soewanto

For the near future we plan to open a new feed mill plant in Medan and also another one in Surabaya. In Medan there will be two poultry lines, two floating fish feed plants and two sinking fish feed plants. In Surabaya we will produce floating fish feed and poultry feed.

I would be interested in working with international companies for our expansion. In terms of the expertise I would be looking for, companies that have experience in fish hatchery, breeding and food processing would be of interest in order to export the fish to Europe. We are the first certified feed company in Indonesia so with this we have the necessary foundations to go into the fish farming sector and produce fish that can be exported internationally.

Our vision is to be a fully integrated company in poultry and fish farming by covering the whole supply chain from fish to food. Today, fish from Indonesia is very difficult to export as the quality of fingerlings is poor and you have to wait eight months before you can market it. With good quality fingerlings you can begin marketing within six months which is much more efficient.