European Regulations And The Expensive Fertilizer Press National Kakao Industry

Head of the General Division of BPDP Adi Sucipto (right), (Aris Nurjani/VOI)

BALI - The Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) of the Ministry of Finance revealed that cocoa commodities are currently facing pressure and dozens of chocolate factories in Indonesia are known to have officially stopped operating.

Head of the General Division of the Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) Adi Sucipto said that as many as 31 brown factories had been closed, so now only about 19 to 21 factories are still operating.

Adi explained that the factory closure occurred because the once abundant local raw materials were no longer available, so the industry was forced to rely on imports. This condition makes production costs soar and no longer competitive

According to him, cocoa is actually Indonesia's leading commodity, but local chocolate products are not in demand by the public.

"We have dark cocoa products, while those consumed are cocoa light. So people are often sweet," he said in the presentation of Kakao Contribution to the State Budget and the Economy, Monday, November 24.

Adi also admitted that the national cocoa industry is facing various challenges, namely from an external perspective, this superior commodity is affected by EU deforestation regulations or European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

He assessed that the policy made Indonesian cocoa exports to the European market even more difficult.

"We want to export now there are many regulations. Because implicitly, cocoa, although not mentioned in the EUDR, is affected, because one of us is a cocoa-producing country," he explained.

Adi revealed that another challenge is the limited cocoa seeds that are currently available only enough to work on about 5,000 hectares of land.

In addition, he added that the planting process cannot be carried out carelessly because seeds must go through inspection of origin, including DNA testing.

"There is a regulation that we have to have a DNA test related to the seeds, we can't then have seeds, we can immediately plant them, we can't now. We have to have the seeds from where they come from," he said.

Hambatan berikutnya adalah harga pupuk kakao yang relatif mahal. Meski begitu, Adi tetap optimistis bahwa program peremajaan lahan kakao dapat mencapai target 5.000 hektare, meski kondisi di lapangan cukup menantang.

"Kami harapkan, kalaupun nanti kick off di 2026, moga-moga bisa 5.000 hektar. Tapi kalau optimisnya, katanya 1.200 sudah mentok," ujarnya.

Dia menyampaikan dalam tiga tahun ke depan, BPDP berencana memperkuat dukungan sarana-prasarana, termasuk penyediaan pupuk.

"Karena selama ini kan yang dihadapi oleh teman-teman itu harga pupuk yang komoditas ini termasuk non-subsidi, jadi lumayan tinggi," ujarnya.

The next obstacle is the relatively expensive price of cocoa fertilizer. Even so, Adi remains optimistic that the cocoa land replanting program can reach the target of 5,000 hectares, even though the conditions on the ground are quite challenging.

"We hope that even if it kicks off in 2026, hopefully it can be 5,000 hectares. But if you are optimistic, he said 1,200 have been stuck," he said.

He said that in the next three years, BPDP plans to strengthen the support of infrastructure, including the provision of fertilizers.

"Because so far what my friends have faced is the price of fertilizer, which includes non-subsidized commodities, so it's quite high," he said.