TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Adhi S. Lukman, Chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverages Businesses Association (GAPMMI) said that business opportunity for the food and beverages industry in Indonesia is still quite large.

Unfortunately, the food and beverages industry is still being hampered by issues related to raw materials.

"Many of our raw materials still need to be imported," Adhi said at the Jakarta International Expo on Wednesday, September 21, 2016.

According to Adhi, around 70 percent of raw materials in the food and beverages industry are still imported. One of the main causes is the lack of integration between the upstream and downstream sector of the food and beverages industry.

"For example, seasoning, powders, or fruit extracts are still being imported. Whereas we have them," Adhi added.

Adhi set out an example where producers need to gather ingredients for two to three months, but stopped producing in just a few weeks because they ran out of raw materials. "This issue needs attention," Adhi stated.

Adhi urged the government and the food and beverages businesses to support each other to develop the industry, for example by inventing new food or beverages.

ODELIA SINAGA