Indonesian food seasoning company planning Saudi Arabia factory to meet growing demand

JAKARTA –Indonesian food seasoning company PT Sasa Inti will start manufacturing out of Saudi Arabia to meet the growing demand for its products in the kingdom, Ronny Imbar its president director told Salaam Gateway.

Sasa Inti expects to kick off its Saudi manufacturing operations in the first half of next year. Without revealing any other details, Imbar said Sasa Inti’s new facility will be housed in a factory owned by Jeddah-based food and cosmetics company Sami Farouk Alkhatiri Trading Est.

“The decision for the new factory comes after an increase of demand. We did a survey in 2016 that revealed that currently there are more than 94 grocery shops and 22 restaurants in Jeddah managed by Indonesians, as well as more than 221,000 haj pilgrims and 1.2 million umrah pilgrims as a captive market every year,” said Imbar.

The company is jointly promoting its products with Sami Farouk Alkhatiri Trading Est to catering businesses serving haj and umrah pilgrims.  

At the retail level, Sasa Inti’s Saudi output will be sold in supermarkets in the kingdom, and include coating and batter mixes, chicken broth and beef broth.

The company started exporting to Saudi Arabia in the second week of August this year after its products were passed by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) in early July. According to the company, the value of its initial exports to Saudi Arabia was around 176.14 million Indonesian rupiah ($13,200).

Indonesia’s total exports to Saudi Arabia was around $1.3 billion in 2016, according to ITC Trade Map data based on United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade). Motor cars and automotive parts were the biggest exports at around $460.5 million, followed by animal or vegetable fats and oils at around $186 million.

Sasa Inti is Indonesia’s pioneer food seasoning manufacturer and operates two factories in the country. It is halal-certified by Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI).

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