Encourage Local Production, Chocolate Drinks Proposed To Be MBG Menu

Kakao Fruit In Cau Chocolates (Aris Nurjani/VOI)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian Kakao Council, Soetanto Abdoellah revealed that cocoa consumption in Indonesia will reach 83,260 tons in 2023 and to encourage increased consumption, the government can include chocolate products in the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) program menu.

"If the children start from elementary to high school in the MBG package, there is a chocolate drink or something like that, I think that's really good," he said when met at the Cau Chocolates production facility, quoted Wednesday, November 26.

According to him, chocolate drinks deserve to be part of the MBG menu because their nutritional content is not inferior to milk.

Even so, Soetanto emphasized the importance of regulating sugar levels to stay healthy.

"Cokelat is healthy as long as the sugar is not too much," he said

He said the idea of bringing chocolate into the MBG program emerged because domestic chocolate consumption continued to increase from 2015 to 2024.

However, this growth was not accompanied by an increase in national cocoa production, triggering an increase in the import of cocoa beans.

Despite the growth, the level of consumption of Indonesians chocolate is still relatively low.

Based on 2023 data, consumption per capita is only around 0.3 percent per year.

The cocoa producer from Tabanan, Bali, Cau Chocolate, continues to strengthen mentoring programs for farmers to increase productivity and produce high-quality cocoa.

To date, the company has built a plantation area of 300 400 hectares managed by local farmers.

CEO of Cau Chocolate I Kadek Surya Prasetya Wiguna explained that his party is partnering with 12 farmer groups in the Tabanan and Jembrana areas.

The assistance focuses on implementing the right organic cultivation so that the garden can be managed optimally.

"Our partnership is in principle loyalty pricing, but what we are guarding is how they remain passionate about farming," he said when met at the Cau Chocolates production facility, quoted Wednesday, November 26.

He added that the Cau Chocolate field team regularly participates in assisting farmers, both young and senior, and support is provided from tree care to pest control using the organic method.

"After they have a good and correct garden, the next goal is to produce cocoa with high productivity. One way is to use the organic agricultural concept. But our target is how to produce one tree, that's at least two kilograms of dry seeds. Say if the wet seeds mean three times, six kilograms," he said.

Currently, national cocoa productivity is still relatively low, which is an average of 600 kilograms per hectare per year.

According to Wiguna, this potential can actually be increased by up to 2 tons per hectare if using superior seeds and appropriate maintenance techniques.

He gave an example, like in the Cau Chocolate garden, the production rate has reached 1.5'1.7 tons per hectare every year.

With a cocoa price of around Rp. 100,000 per kilogram, farmers have the opportunity to earn an income of around Rp. 150 million per hectare per year, or more than Rp. 10 million per month.

In addition to strengthening the upstream sector, Wiguna said Cau Chocolate has also continued to develop international markets and has been exporting products since 2021 to various countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Qatar, Poland, and Australia.

"The only large number is Australia. Indeed, the numbers are not too big, but they have started," he explained.

Wiguna also revealed that the company is building a new factory with a larger production capacity, which is targeted to be able to process up to 2 tons of cocoa per day.

Meski kapasitas bertambah, ia menegaskan komitmen perusahaan untuk tetap memberi harga beli yang adil kepada petani dan meskipun harga kakao global turun ke kisaran Rp85.000 per kilogram, Cau Chocolate tetap membeli minimal Rp100.000

“Pembelian dengan harga baik harus diikuti kualitas yang baik. Petani-petani loyal kami juga berupaya menghasilkan mutu yang luar biasa. Mereka adalah pejuang-pejuang yang luar biasa, yang menghasilkan coklat-coklat yang baik sehingga dapat diakui di seluruh dunia,” ujarnya.

Despite the increasing capacity, he emphasized the company's commitment to continue to provide fair purchase prices to farmers and even though the global cocoa price fell to around Rp. 85,000 per kilogram, Cau Chocolate still bought a minimum of Rp. 100,000

The purchase of good prices must be followed by good quality. Our loyal farmers are also trying to produce extraordinary quality. They are extraordinary fighters, who produce good chocolates so that they can be recognized worldwide," he said.