In the mid-1990s, Canada’s food exporters were showing a lot of interest in Indonesia.
Headlines touted the booming economies of Indonesia and other fast growing countries in the region, dubbing them Asian Tigers.
With a population then edging past 200 million – the fourth largest in the world – and growing prosperity, Indonesia seemed a ripe market.
In 1996-97, Canada’s wheat exports to Indonesia peaked at 1.4 million tonnes.
But in 1997, currency crises swept through Asia, bringing to earth all the high flying economies, including Indonesia’s.
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Gross domestic product dropped by 13.7 percent in 1998 and the country’s problems were made worse by a severe drought in 1997.
Wheat imports from all sources dropped to 3.12 million tonnes in 1998 from 4.2 million in 1996. Through difficult economic reform, Indonesia’s economy began to grow again in the new century, although at a more modest rate.
Since the mid-1990s, the population has also grown and is now about 240 million.
The International Grains Council expects wheat consumption in the country will reach a record 4.8 million tonnes in 2005-06.
Food use of wheat is set to reach 21 kilograms per person this year, an increase of about three kg over the past five years, the IGC said.
By comparison, Canadians consume about 64 kg of cereal grains a year, most of which is wheat.
Rice is still the staple food of Indonesia with consumption at about 150 kg per person per year.
But similar to other Asian countries, Indonesia’s urbanization, economic growth and convenience are helping to increase the popularity of noodles made from wheat.
Although still small, the country’s taste for baked goods is also growing.
A report last year from the U.S. embassy in Indonesia said major layoffs during the economic crisis pushed former employees of the bakery industry to start bakeshops at home. Now, more than 30,000 bakeshops provide low-cost baked goods in urban and rural areas. Convenience stores, too, often have their own in-house bakeries.
Canada’s wheat exports to Indonesia have not climbed back to where they were in the mid-1990s.
They were in the range of 650,000 to 850,000 tonnes since 2000, with the exception of 2002-03, when the drought slashed production and exports to Indonesia were limited to about 200,000 tonnes.
In the 2004-05 crop year it appears exports will be near the high end of the range with shipments of 776,000 tonnes by the end of July, making Indonesia the fourth largest buyer after China, Japan and South Korea.
