Take a Look the Slice of Opportunity in a Fruit Export Industry
Various benefits can be obtained from consuming fruits and vegetables, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Fruits and vegetables also hold the title as one of the foodstuffs with low calorie and carbohydrate content. As a result, this one food ingredient is the target of local and international markets. Regarding the local market, do you know that Indonesia has done a lot for the international world in terms of producing fruits and vegetables? Domestic production with the best quality ever sold to neighboring countries. Precisely when entering 2016 when the mangosteen fruit commodity from Indonesia was exported to 29 countries. Not only mangosteen, cabbage, mustard greens, and cauliflower are also ogled by the international market. At least 40,240 tons and 77 types of vegetables have been shipped to Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Netherlands. These countries are ready to accommodate many of the archipelago’s agricultural products, quoted from agriculture.go.id. Then followed fruits such as round coconuts which were sent to China, Thailand, Japan, and 16 other countries. Including bananas which are also the target of countries such as Japan, China, and Malaysia. With such conditions, it can be said that horticultural products such as fruit and fresh vegetables are in demand in many countries. With that brief description, there is nothing wrong if we recognize the potential of fresh Indonesian fruits and vegetables as well as what must be prepared to enter the export market.
Until 2021, around 60 percent of the world’s non-traditional vegetable export trade is filled with green vegetables, salads, root vegetables, and squash. What is quite astonishing is that 22 percent of the world’s export market is actually filled with tomatoes. While for fruits, bananas and oranges are occupied by 43 percent, apples-grapes, and pears with 50 percent. The increase in world export commodities occurred in special product categories such as chili, ginger, and garlic which reached 1.5 billion USD in 2001, up from 650 million USD in 1992. While the total world trade for fruits and vegetables was 15.5 billion USD. This condition increased 56 percent in the combined share of non-traditional fruit and vegetable exports of developing countries. Especially for Indonesia, not much data can be retrieved. Quoted from bps.go.id, the country’s export activities can only be known for the fruit sector. In 2020, Indonesia’s fruit exports reached 438 thousand USD. An increase when compared to 2019 with a figure of 323 thousand USD. Even though it is relatively small, there are at least some reasons why Indonesia’s fruit and vegetable export market potential needs to be increased.
Several Indonesian agricultural commodities, which are often exported, have seen an increase. For example, avocados from 410 thousand tons in 2018, rose to 461 thousand tons in 2019. Then bananas from 7,264 million tons in 2018, slightly increased to 7,280 million tons in 2019. Then there is ginger from 6,357 tons in 2019, up to 80,926 tons in 2020. Next is mangosteen with a total production of 228,000 tons in 2019, increasing to 246,000 tons in 2020. Even though Indonesia is still shrouded in the Covid-19 pandemic, it turns out that there is still good news blowing from the archipelago’s agricultural sector. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stated that the gross domestic product (GDP) of agriculture in the fourth quarter of 2020 grew by 2.59 percent year on year (YoY). According to them, the growth occurred because food crops increased by 10.47 percent. This is triggered by an increase in the number of harvests including the production of rice, corn, and cassava. Not to mention the high demand for fruits and vegetables during the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in horticultural commodities growing 7.85 percent. With this condition, the agricultural sector became the largest contributor to the economy, beating the industrial, trade, construction, transportation, and food and drink accommodation sectors, all of which experienced a decline in production. Business field affairs also experienced growth.
Based on the 2020 business field, the agricultural sector experienced a 1.75 percent growth which immediately made the agricultural business field grow positively compared to others. The large potential for exports of fresh fruit and vegetables in the country is still wide open. Unfortunately, this condition is not in line with the increase in the number of exports. Despite the surge in fruit and vegetable production in the country, Indonesia is unable to do much to meet the world’s needs. This nation is only able to perch on the 52nd position in the world for vegetable exports in 2020. As for fruits, it is slightly better by ranking 32nd in the world in 2020 with 934 thousand USD. Better when compared to 2019 with a figure of 797 thousand USD. Where the top world fruit trade is held by the United States followed by Spain and the Netherlands. So that entrepreneurial friends can optimize the potential of local fruits and vegetables in order to gain a place in the international world, and understand the trends that occur in the global market.
According to the ITC-Trade Map for types of vegetables, the most popular are all types of vegetables, both fresh and chilled except potatoes, tomatoes, brassicas, lettuce, chicory, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and legumes. In Indonesia, the types of vegetables and fruits are classified as seasonal vegetables. Vegetable and fruit commodities such as shallots, garlic, large chilies, and cayenne pepper. For shallots in 2020, production peaked in December which reached 203 thousand tons. Provinces with the most production are occupied by Central Java, East Java, and West Nusa Tenggara. The export value reached USD 13.74 million, an increase of USD 3.15 million compared to 2019.
The main export destination country for Indonesia at that time was Thailand with a value of USD 9.3 million, followed by Singapore with a value of USD 2.55 million, and finally Malaysia with a value of 1.69 million USD. Next is garlic. In 2020, Indonesia’s production reached 81.8 thousand tons, down 7.02 thousand tons compared to 2019. Peak production occurred in April reaching 14.45 thousand tons. The provinces that produce the most garlic fall in Central Java, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Java. Meanwhile, the export value in that year reached 322 thousand tons, an increase of 267 thousand USD compared to 2019. The main destination country for local garlic exports was Taiwan with an export value of 341.87 thousand USD, followed by Singapore with a value of 44.14 thousand USD, and finally South Korea with a value of 34.87 thousand USD. 14.4 thousand USD. For large chilies, production for 2020 reached 1.26 million tons, an increase of 49.77 thousand tons compared to 2019. The highest production occurred in April with an achievement of 120.35 thousand tons imported from West Java, North Sumatra, and Central Java. As for cayenne pepper, production reached 1.51 million tons, an increase of 134.19 thousand tons compared to 2019. The highest production occurred in August reaching 177.91 thousand tons with the largest production being produced by East Java, Central Java, and West Java. He noted that both large chilies and local cayenne peppers have not yet had the opportunity to be exported to neighboring countries.
These provisions can be in the form of standards or lists of chemicals that are permitted and used in fruits and vegetables such as pesticides. Countries in the European region tend to apply fairly strict rules, especially for food products. The same is true for Japan. In the country of Sakura, it is absolutely legal to dominate the consumer market. From upstream to product processing. From the aspect of quality, quantity, and continuity are mandatory requirements so that our sales can be enjoyed by Japanese citizens. However, as long as the exporters are able to provide an understanding of these countries. Such as the fulfillment of the maximum threshold of pesticides. This will be the most frequently encountered issue. Fortunately, almost all fruits and vegetables in Indonesia are treated intensively for excess fertilizers and pesticides. Just make sure and at the same time educate buyers that products from Indonesia do not use excessive pesticides or fertilizers. That is, the export of fruit and vegetables is not as complicated as you think.
Then find out about the market. There are various ways, one of which is by visiting several websites related to what products I am interested in buyers, including which countries are the targets of these products. No less important is to prepare the product. This should not be forgotten considering the time, the distance needed to get to the destination country is not instant. Look for the packaging process according to the product to be exported. Don’t forget to also help farmers so that their agricultural production is always good. Also, teach the production system so that the product can be accepted without significant problems when exporting.
