The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Indonesia’s chocoholics lead an Asian quality wave Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:26 AM PST  A worker shows a bar of chocolate at Monggo Chocolate factory in Yogyakarta December 19, 2011. – Reuters pic But now, less than seven years after launch, his luxury Chocolate Monggo bars can be found in many of the gigantic and glitzy malls of downtown Jakarta. As Southeast Asia's largest economy goes from strength to strength – highlighted by a return to investment-grade status by Fitch Ratings this month – Indonesia's Willy Wonka is one of many tapping into a growing Asian market for luxury chocolate. "When I started to make chocolate in Indonesia, I realized there was no good chocolate," said Detournay, who began by converting a pink Vespa into a stall and selling home-made chocolate goodies at local markets. Yogyakarta-based Chocolate Monggo now employs 50 people on the production side, sources cocoa beans from Javanese, Sumatran and Celebes plantations, and churns out as many as 75,000 chocolate bars per month. "While I'm doing this business, I can see the tastes of Indonesian people changing," he added. "Now more and more people – young and middle class adults – are looking more for dark chocolate, and quality." Chocolate consumption in Indonesia has plenty of scope to grow – annual cocoa demand is estimated at only 0.2 kg per person, versus 0.6 kg in neighbour Malaysia and 10 kg in Europe. Indonesia has said it wants to triple domestic cocoa consumption over the next three years. Chocolate Party was a recent business-government joint event in the country's capital that hoped to help hit this target. As well as a giant chocolate fountain, there were also stalls by Nestle's Milo, Dunkin' Donuts, Indonesian consumer firm GarudaFood and Jakarta-based Chocolate School. "Five years ago, people in Indonesia knew about chocolate through chocolate drinks, but now people know about praline, chocolate bars with peanut or ginger," said Christina Erawati, principal at the school, which teaches chocolatier skills. Started about two years ago, students at Chocolate School work with premium chocolate, and go on arranged trips to cocoa plantations and processing factories. "The biggest portion of our students are entrepreneurs – people who want to make their own business in chocolate – maybe they want to build a chocolate shop or restaurant or bakery," Erawati added. ASIAN QUALITY CONTROL  Belgian chocolatier Thierry Detournay smiles next to his stand of Monggo Chocolate in Yogyakarta December 19, 2011. Arriving in Indonesia just a little over a decade ago, Detournay was dismayed at the lack of quality chocolate. – Reuters pic Chocolate sale in China are forecast to rise 19 per cent to US$1.2 billion this year, and in India by 7 per cent to US$633 million, with Indonesian sales likely to jump 25 per cent to US$1.1 billion, data from the market research firm showed. "From a consumer standpoint in China, chocolate is a relatively new taste," said Marcia Mogelonsky, global food analyst at Mintel. "The taste that took off first in China wasn't low quality chocolate ... so they have a complete population that has been educated and imbued with a much higher taste barrier." She added that Indonesian chocolate sales would hit US$1.9 billion in 2015. As economies in Europe and the United States slow, rising populations and wealth levels in Asia will combine with improved logistics to speed consumption of better quality chocolate. Towns will become cities, logistics will improve and consumers will no longer have to rely on lower-quality products based on cocoa powder, which cope better with high temperatures than cocoa butter-based products. "There are now over 600 air-conditioned shopping malls in India, which is a place where a lot of chocolatiers are setting up premium chocolate boutiques," added Mogelonsky. Indonesian cocoa grinders and major overseas investors have spotted the potential in Asia and are expanding rapidly. The country is attracting companies such as US agribusiness giant Cargill and Barry Callebaut, the world's top chocolate maker, which plan to invest almost US$150 million in cocoa grinding plants in Sulawesi. But it looks increasingly likely that the growing Indonesian middle class won't be eating only chocolate from home-grown cocoa in the future.  A worker pours chocolate into a mould at Monggo Chocolate factory in Yogyakarta December 19, 2011. The growing taste for high quality chocolate in emerging markets – especially in Asia – will help boost global chocolate sales 2 per cent to US$81.8 billion in 2011, according to a market research firm. – Reuters pic "There is still a very big problem about the quality in general, about the beans," said Chocolate Monggo's Detournay. CASH CROPS Smallholder cocoa farmers, who own about 90 per cent of Indonesia's total plantation area, are also switching to crops like rubber, coffee and palm oil, which can offer bigger profits. "The next three to five years, no farmer will want to plant cocoa and some will replace," said Zulhefi Sikumbang, chairman at cocoa producers association Askindo, who runs his own 1,200 hectare cocoa plantation in West Java. In an effort to combat the decline, the Indonesian government launched a US$350 million programme in 2009 to boost cocoa production to more than 600,000 tonnes within five years. It has yet to show results, with bad weather, failure to follow advice on planting techniques and mismanagement working against the campaign. The cocoa association sees production this year of just 430,000 tonnes, from a 2006 peak of 650,000 tonnes. "It's not good for the new investors coming," said Sikumbang. "They will be unhappy actually ... they will have to import – some from PNG (Papua New Guinea), some from Ghana and Africa." In October, Askindo forecast that Indonesia would need to import 100,000 tonnes of cocoa beans in the next two to three years to meet its expanding grinder needs. West Africa, which accounts for 70 per cent of global cocoa supply, looks set to feed new grinders' needs. Indonesian grinding capacity is likely to rise to more than 600,000 tonnes in the next two years, up from 400,000 tonnes of beans in 2012, according to industry players. "They will probably stop producing and change to other crops which have more demand," said Lynette Tan, an analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore, who added that within the next five to ten years there may not be any Indonesian cocoa producers left. "For the past two or three years, it has been a recurring problem, and given that cocoa is not easy to produce and farmers can choose to shift to other crops – even for coffee they make more money than cocoa." – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Ahmad Shah Massoud and martyrdom Posted: 18 Dec 2011 05:01 PM PST  An Afghan pays his respects to Massoud. — Pictures by Zan Azlee And now, I was told by Ahmad Bilal Raghbat, my fixer, it was also Massoud Day weekend. It's actually the 10th anniversary of the death of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the great Muhajideen general who fought against the Russians and then the Taliban. He was assassinated by the Taliban two days before the 9/11 attacks, and that date is now a national holiday.  Representatives from the Afghan National Police and the Afghan National Army pay their respects to the fallen tribal leader at Massoud Square. "There will be lots of people gathering at Massoud Square to pay tribute to him," said Bilal as he drove without regard of any traffic rules, as is the case with all Afghan drivers. "Security is going to be tight so it might be difficult for us to get in." I just nodded as my fingers gripped the dashboard in fear. "Funny. I come to a war zone willingly but I'm scared of dying in a traffic accident!" I thought to myself. We drove around and around and what Bilal predicted was true. Every road that was an entry point into Massoud Square was blocked by the Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Afghan National Army (ANA). Only cars with designated permits were allowed to drive in. So we parked the car in a nearby residential area and continued by foot. As soon as we arrived at the square, we could hear the sound of hundreds of people chanting and music playing. It was obvious that Massoud is definitely a national hero and revered by all Afghans, which is surprising since Afghans are known to be very tribal. Massoud himself was a Tajik, and not part of the majority Pashtun tribe. Yet, here we saw all Afghans paying tribute to him. I walked around the square (which was a really a roundabout with a tall monument in the centre) observing and filming the people. Many came bringing flowers and wreaths, and they all carried pictures of Massoud. The cars that were given permission to drive into the square were really parade vehicles that were decorated with flowers, black flags and huge portraits of Massoud. It was a very loud affair indeed and the Afghans all looked very passionate, even on the verge of anger. Personally, the atmosphere felt almost like a protest or demonstration. And this got me thinking if Massoud was really someone who represented unity, nationalism and independence for the Afghan people. His spirit might even be a catalyst for Afghans to reject the foreign forces now occupying their country.  Hundreds of Afghans showed up at Massoud Square on the 10th anniversary of his death. "Today, I am here to celebrate the great Ahmad Shah Massoud. All Muslims, not just Afghans, were upset when he was killed," said Gulahmad Zahid, who had just laid a wreath near the base of the monument. "Massoud left behind the idea of freedom and the idea of the liberation of Afghanistan," said Syed Ahmad Zubair. "Massoud brough syariah to Afghanistan. And he never differentiated between Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks or Hazarats. He fought for a united Afghanistan," said Nasir Ahmad Kawandee. Throughout the entire time we were at Massoud Square, I noticed that Bilal had a very disinterested look on his face. He didn't seem excited nor did he seem bored. He's an Afghan and I wondered why he wasn't as worked up and passionate as these other Afghans who were all around me in the square. So I decided to pick his brain and ask him about. "I do see Massoud as a hero. He was a great general and even served as a minister in the Mujahideen government but I think it's overdone," he told me. I couldn't understand why. If he served the country well and was a hero, why not celebrate him? "What this day should be called is Martyrs' Day as there have been many great Afghans who have died for the country. The politicians are using Massoud to manipulate the people and stir their emotions," he said. But still, I didn't see anything wrong with that. All countries have their own heroes who help ignite nationalism and patriotism among its people. But I guess Bilal was entitled to his opinion. "Do you know, some politicians of Tajik ethnicity are even taking advantage of Massoud being Tajik and trying to get votes that way," Bilal added. "To me, it just reflects how selfish Afghan politicians are and they don't really care about the country." Now that struck a chord in me, especially after the last few days of interviewing Afghans on the streets of Kabul and hearing how they all wanted the foreign forces to leave Afghanistan so that their own people can govern the country. If they were so intent in wanting to be independent, did they actually believe that they were ready to govern themselves?  Massoud was someone who could unite the many tribes of Afghanistan. I had the opportunity to speak to Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs. I wanted to find out if he felt that the ANP were adequately trained to take over security matters in Afghanistan once 2014 arrived. Corruption is actually rife among the police force and many local Afghans don't trust them. And this includes Bilal who is very vocal about it. "These policemen aren't educated and if you offer them a little bit of money, they get blinded by it," he said. Somehow, I doubted it was a direct affect of their education level. From my observations, Afghans had tremendous pride. They were proud to be Afghan and they were proud of their history. And this carried over into their jobs. When they were given uniforms and responsibility, they took it with a lot of heart. Unfortunately, being a policeman did not mean you could pay the bills and feed your family. "It's true that the average policeman makes very little in terms of salary. And that plays a big part in the rampant corruption throughout the country. It's hardly their fault. On the government's part, we're slowly increasing their pay so they can make a decent living," explained Sediqqi quite frankly. The corruption problem needs to be solved as quickly as possible since Afghanistan needs to make sure that they have a reliable police force come 2014. But Sediqqi is optimistic that his government, and his ministry, will be able handle the transition of power. "Aside from the pay increase, we have also set up a few police training centres around the country. ISAF is also playing a big part in this and I'm positive by 2014, Afghanistan will be ready," said Sediqqi. Next week: Part 4 of Zan Azlee's "Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite".View videos of his adventures at http://fatbidin.com/afghanistan/ Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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