JAKARTA - The national food and beverage industry, especially the packaged beverage sector, continues to show resilience amid various global economic challenges.
As one of the main pillars of the domestic manufacturing and consumption sectors, this industry continues to play an important role despite facing a weakening of the rupiah exchange rate, international economic pressures, and geopolitical uncertainties.
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) processed by the Center for Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, Indonesia's economy in the first quarter of 2026 grew by 5.61 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the processing industry is still the largest contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with a contribution of 19.07 percent, and from this figure, the food and beverage subsector contributed around 7.31 percent to the national GDP, confirming its position as the main engine of manufacturing growth.
Although it shows a fairly solid macro performance, the industry in the field still faces a number of challenges that affect the quality of its growth.
CORE Indonesia Senior Researcher, Muhammad Ishak Razak, assessed that the current market conditions need to be monitored, especially related to people's purchasing power.
He added that the momentum of Ramadan and Lebaran, increased community mobility, and domestic consumption are still the main factors that drive demand for the soft drink industry.
"However, this growth is still overshadowed by a number of structural challenges, including; the weakening of the rupiah which had penetrated Rp17,900 per US dollar, rising production costs, inflationary pressure, and weak purchasing power of the community which is a real challenge for industry players," he said in a statement, Thursday, June 4.
Chairman of the Association of Beverage Companies in Packaging (ASRIM), Triyono Prijosoesilo, said that the current condition shows that the industry has not fully returned to the ideal growth rate.
"ASRIM assesses that although the food and beverage industry still recorded positive growth throughout 2025 of 6.38 percent, the growth is still below the pre-pandemic level which previously could reach a range of 7-9 percent," he said.
He added that a number of economists also assessed that economic growth in the first quarter of 2026 was still driven by government spending and the Ramadan-Lebaran seasonal factor, while the recovery of people's purchasing power was not yet fully strong.
He emphasized that the challenges faced by business actors are getting bigger due to the increasing cost of production, because of the high dependence on imported raw materials and packaging, coupled with exchange rate fluctuations, which provide additional pressure on industrial operations.
Based on the April 2026 inflation data, the food, beverage, and tobacco group experienced inflation of 3.06 percent annually, higher than the national inflation of 2.42 percent.
Responding to this condition, the government through the Ministry of Industry emphasized its commitment to maintaining a business climate that is conducive for the manufacturing sector through various strategic policies.
The representative of the Ministry of Industry, Merrijantij Punguan Pintaria, conveyed the form of support for the industrial ecosystem from regulators.
Merrijantij said that in the first quarter of 2026, the processing industry sector contributed around 19 percent to the national GDP, with the food and beverage industry as the main subsector to support manufacturing growth.
"We understand that global economic pressures also present challenges for the food and beverage industry to continue to grow," he said.
Therefore, he added that the government is committed to strengthening the industrial structure, encouraging downstream processing, improving the competitiveness of the food and beverage sector, and strengthening synergy with business actors to maintain the sustainability of the industry and job creation.
Responding to the government's move, Triyono welcomed various steps taken by the government in strengthening the domestic sector.
He added that his party also hopes that the implementation of future policies can take place adaptively without adding burdens that have the potential to hinder business activities.
According to him, this is important to maintain the sustainability of investment and labor absorption.
Triyono emphasized the importance of continued collaboration between the government, business actors, and all stakeholders in maintaining the resilience of the national packaged beverage industry.
He added that the growth opportunities for the packaged beverage industry are still wide open. However, sustained strengthening is needed so that the industry will be more resilient in the future.
Triyono said his party encouraged adaptive and consistent policies, including strengthening domestic raw materials, regulatory certainty, and a balance between people's purchasing power and business sustainability.
"ASRIM prioritizes constructive dialogue with the government and all stakeholders to evaluate various industrial policies, including taxes and import duties, in order to maintain industry stability, investment sustainability, and the protection of national labor," he said.
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