Friday, May 22, 2015, 10:14
Bread sparks Indonesia wheat-buying surge
For an increasing number of Indonesians, rice and noodles are no longer at the top of the menu. Bread is becoming a new food staple.
A voracious appetite for sandwiches and baked goods like cakes, pastries and donuts has turned the world's fourth-most populous nation into the No 2 importer of wheat. Consumption of the grain has doubled since 2002, quite a feat for a tropical archipelago that, unlike most other major buyers, grows none.
Baked goods are often just easier to eat than noodles or cooked rice at home. Their appeal has risen as the Indonesian economy more than tripled over a decade, boosting incomes for a middle class willing to pay more for fast, convenient meals. Consumption of bread and cakes jumped almost 60 percent in the past four years, the Indonesia Bakery Association estimates. Dunkin' Donuts Inc has shops in more than 17 cities, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc runs nine outlets in Jakarta alone.
"Sometimes, we get bored with rice and eating the regular Indonesian dishes," Andy Bachtiar, a 35-year-old marketing supervisor, said as he chomped his way through a 70,000 rupiah ($5.30) tuna sandwich for dinner with his wife and daughter at Raffel's Sandwich shop near Jakarta. "We both work, so we need easy-to-eat food for breakfast or sometimes just for snacks."
Australia wins
Over the past decade, Indonesia's wheat imports surged 63 percent to a record 7.7 million metric tons this year, while consumption jumped 70 percent, far outpacing a 8 percent gain in rice demand that will reach an all-time high of 38.6 million tons in 2015, US Department of Agriculture data show. Wheat imports will rise to 8.1 million tons next year. Demand has grown more slowly in Egypt, the top buyer, which will import 11.3 million tons in 2015-2016, the USDA estimates.
While global wheat inventories are around the highest ever after record harvests in 2014, increased demand from Indonesia may benefit the world's top exporters, including the United States and Canada, and Australia, Indonesia's main supplier.
"There's still a lot of growth opportunity there," said Jason Craig, general manager of marketing and trading at CBH Group, Australia's largest grain shipper, in Perth. The company has a 50 percent stake in Interflour Group Pte, which operates flour mills in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.
A voracious appetite for sandwiches and baked goods like cakes, pastries and donuts has turned the world's fourth-most populous nation into the No 2 importer of wheat. Consumption of the grain has doubled since 2002, quite a feat for a tropical archipelago that, unlike most other major buyers, grows none.
Baked goods are often just easier to eat than noodles or cooked rice at home. Their appeal has risen as the Indonesian economy more than tripled over a decade, boosting incomes for a middle class willing to pay more for fast, convenient meals. Consumption of bread and cakes jumped almost 60 percent in the past four years, the Indonesia Bakery Association estimates. Dunkin' Donuts Inc has shops in more than 17 cities, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc runs nine outlets in Jakarta alone.
"Sometimes, we get bored with rice and eating the regular Indonesian dishes," Andy Bachtiar, a 35-year-old marketing supervisor, said as he chomped his way through a 70,000 rupiah ($5.30) tuna sandwich for dinner with his wife and daughter at Raffel's Sandwich shop near Jakarta. "We both work, so we need easy-to-eat food for breakfast or sometimes just for snacks."
Australia wins
Over the past decade, Indonesia's wheat imports surged 63 percent to a record 7.7 million metric tons this year, while consumption jumped 70 percent, far outpacing a 8 percent gain in rice demand that will reach an all-time high of 38.6 million tons in 2015, US Department of Agriculture data show. Wheat imports will rise to 8.1 million tons next year. Demand has grown more slowly in Egypt, the top buyer, which will import 11.3 million tons in 2015-2016, the USDA estimates.
While global wheat inventories are around the highest ever after record harvests in 2014, increased demand from Indonesia may benefit the world's top exporters, including the United States and Canada, and Australia, Indonesia's main supplier.
"There's still a lot of growth opportunity there," said Jason Craig, general manager of marketing and trading at CBH Group, Australia's largest grain shipper, in Perth. The company has a 50 percent stake in Interflour Group Pte, which operates flour mills in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.
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