Our company has recently been focused on upgrading our breadcrumb manufacturing facilities, with the goal of producing goods of an even higher quality. The installation of this new machinery was completed in November 2014, and we thus expect to see strong sales for breadcrumbs in 2015. With regard to our other products, we are currently prioritising opportunities to produce wheat-based goods for major private brands such as Lotte and 7-Eleven under their brand name. In addition to this, it is our strategy to also focus on serving the food service industry as well as institutional clients, while still maintaining the position of our in-house brand, Le Gitt, in prestigious retail chains across Indonesia.

Our company is the biggest bread crumb producer in Indonesia and stands among the leaders when it comes to working with private labels. There are only a handful of manufacturers in the country that are considered to be capable of producing bread and other baked goods for B2B customers, and this is where we really stand out. We also take pride in our use of the latest production processes, such as electro baking and double fermentation.

The future of Indonesia’s wheat-based product industry is very promising, because ongoing economic development should bring about a change in consumer preferences which evolve from being very standard and carbohydrate based to later involving more proteins. The benefit of bread is that in addition to serving as a good source for carbohydrates, it also provides good protein content. Bread has almost double the protein content of rice, and is now becoming increasingly popular in Indonesia. It is our view that bread will soon become a strong alternative to the country’s staple foodstuffs – rice and noodles.

In terms of specific wheat-based goods that have the most potential going forward, we have seen that most bread products have been the subject of growing demand. Our sweet bun product has become more popular because of its convenience to customers, who can buy and eat it on the go. Our loaf breads have seen an increase in demand on the back of more parents purchasing bread to prepare for their children as a nutritious and time-saving alternative to rice.

It is our strategy to be selective when deciding where to make our products available, and intend to maintain our current position within high-end supermarket chains in keeping with our marketing objectives and middle to upper class target market. 

The Greater Jakarta area and surrounding satellite towns will continue to be our focus at present, given our current production capacity. From an export point of view, our flagship Panko breadcrumbs is still our most promising product, with Japan having been identified as the primary market for this. The local market is also showing signs of having immense potential for breadcrumbs, following on from the increased consumption of foods such as tempura as well as the popularity of traditional foods like rissoles that are now being prepared with more attention to quality.

One of the main differences between traditional and modern bread producers is the utilisation of preservatives. For businesses that focus on serving the low-income segment of the market, the thinking is simple; the longer the bread lasts, the better. The reason behind this is that their production facilities tend to be located far away from retail locations, and their bread thus needs to have a longer shelf-life. For manufacturers serving the middle-upper segment such as ourselves, we are more committed to providing customers with fresh products and thus steer clear of using preservatives. This strategy is feasible for our target customer base because these customers do not base their purchasing decision on the expiry date and will instead choose breads that they deem to be the freshest.

Our product development is currently geared towards creating healthier bread loaves that offer nutritional value in the form of natural ingredients and added fibre to improve upon the digestive system. Beyond this, innovation for our sweet buns will be centred on introducing unique products and strengthening our reputation as a provider of delicious baked goods.

We are very open to this type of opportunity, in keeping with our parent company’s [Sriboga Raturaya] strategy to cooperate with foreign partners such as Mitsubishi. We see the most potential in technology transfer as well as in partnerships that would facilitate greater efficiency within our manufacturing operations.

I would like GBG Indonesia’s readers to remember Sriboga Bakeries Integra as one of the most prestigious bread producers in Indonesia with advanced capacity and expertise.