Indonesia's poultry industry is growing rapidly

Chicken consumption in Indonesia increased from 3.5 to 6 kilograms per person per year between 2010 and 2019 and will continue to grow. This trend reflects the archipelago's growth in prosperity after two decades of strong economic growth. Poultry is a major source of animal protein due to the religious ban on eating pork for almost 90% of the country’s Muslim population. Furthermore, beef, goat and mutton, and dairy products of the like, have to be imported in large quantities and are too expensive for many locals.

The archipelago is largely self-sufficient in the supply of chicken meat; it is imported and exported only in insignificant quantities. However, its multi-layered production process requires technology imports for keeping, feeding, medical care, transport and slaughter, as well as cooling and storage. In view of the further sharp rise in demand, there should be considerable demand here. According to data consultants from Data Consult, the production of chicken meat (“Purebred Chicken Meat”) will increase from 2.8 million to 3.7 million tons (t) between 2020 and 2024. The production of chicken fillet ("layer meat"), which is sold primarily in the growing supermarket segment, increased in the same period by around 12 percent to 121,000 t.

The downstream sector of the poultry industry, i.e. the process chain close to the end user, such as processing and sales, is comparatively well developed. However, there are deficits in the steps upstream of production. For example, there is no efficient breeding. Much of the feed, especially corn, has to be imported. In general, generation is considered to be insufficiently engineered. Rupiah's depreciation for years has made imports more difficult. The greatest progress has been made with laying battery cages.

In the Indonesian language, a distinction is made between broiler chicken and the thinner "Ayam Kampung" (translated: village chicken) found in backyards. The former dominates traditional markets, which are still the most important sources of supply for large sections of the population. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, there were around 2 billion broiler chickens in 2019. Their fattening time is four to six weeks. The largest companies are mainly located in Java, where almost 60% of the population live, many of them around the greater Jakarta area with its 30 million inhabitants. According to Data Consult, 10 percent of industry companies are part of large conglomerates with mostly integrated process lines, from breeding to slaughter and transport. Another 70% are contractors and 20% are independent. 

Own breeding is not worthwhile 

The breeding and fattening industry is not only dependent on technology imports. It also needs imported breeding chickens, which are necessary to raise broilers for meat and egg production. These are mainly supplied from the USA and, to a lesser extent, from France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Germany. According to the Indonesian statistics body, BPS, the import value in 2019 was just under US$31 million (Rp 448.2 billion), which was a peak of the strongly fluctuating imports every year.

Only market participants with special import licenses can introduce the so-called grandparent stock of breeding chickens, from which the parent stock and finally the broiler chickens (final stock) are drawn. This process takes up to two and a half years and is so expensive and technology-intensive that it has so far not been worthwhile for Indonesia to build up an efficient own breeding industry. Breeding chicken imports are cheaper. According to Data Consult, raising the final stock only accounts for between 20 and 30% of the costs of the entire breeding chain.

The state controls the poultry industry as well as the entire food production. The government is trying to keep imports to a minimum. Exceptions are deficient situations. Then, the Ministry of Commerce intervenes and, for example, relaxes the import restrictions for parent stock. The overarching goal is price stabilization. The price of a kilogram of chicken meat for end consumers is around Rp 35,000 (approx. $2.50). Measured against local incomes, this is a multiple of what has to be paid for it in developed countries.

In the wake of the corona pandemic, there were regional supply bottlenecks for numerous staple foods such as sugar, garlic, ginger or chicken eggs. At the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, a feast is often served. Thus, the supply situation and price stability also have a political dimension. The crisis could therefore lead the government to accelerate the sluggish agricultural reform that is expected to dramatically increase the production of agricultural commodities. Indonesia is currently a net importer here and relies on imports for almost all staple foods. Traditional domestic cuisine is also based on food imports. The main reasons for this include the weak mechanization of agriculture and the competing space requirements of the palm oil industry. 

GTAI is the foreign trade and inward investment agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter into foreign markets.