Indonesia sees maiden shipment of chicken nuggets to Japan

The Trade Ministry has seen the first export of 6 tons of chicken nuggets to Japan on last Wednesday. The nuggets were produced by PT Belfoods Indonesia, the subsidiary of publicly listed PT Sierad Produce.

“I congratulate Belfoods for being the first company to export chicken nuggets to Japan and for its contribution to Indonesian national exports,” said Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita in a statement.

Enggartiasto said the shipment was a milestone for Indonesia given that the Japanese market was long known as hard to penetrate for Indonesian producers owing to its strict quality standards.

“We expect that this is a good start to develop the Indonesian processed chicken industry for the international market. If Indonesian chicken nuggets can enter Japan, then it will be easier for it to access other countries,” he said.

The trade minister also said he expected Indonesian chicken exporters to train local chicken farmers because exports should also increase the livelihoods of local stock farmers while increasing the country’s foreign currency savings.

The consumption of poultry-based processed foods in Japan reached US$2 billion a year, making Japan a potential choice for exports. China and Thailand are known as the major exporters for Japan.

Meanwhile, PT Sierad Produce CEO Tommy Wattimena said Belfoods products’ taste had become accepted by the Japanese because the subsidiary had done some market research in the country.

“Belfoods will still focus on the domestic market while keeping the quality of our products up to export standards to help export development,” he said.