Bubutan, Jawa Timur, Indonesia-based shrimp firm PT. Panca Mitra Multiperdana (PMMP) is building a fifth processing facility as the company scales up to produce higher-value products.
PMMP CEO Martinus Soesilo told SeafoodSource his company will construct the new facility in East Java to process shrimp from the 11 ponds it has certified through the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program.
While Soesilo said PMMP is Indonesia’s- fastest growing shrimp producer by volume, he said his company’s strategy is to pursue “premium”-quality shrimp production. He expects the market to shift towards more health-conscious products as the price of shrimp declines, he said.
“We’ve seen people from other industries enter [the shrimp-farming business]. While this is great on the supply side, there are not as many new players in the processing side. We want to do something different,” he said. “I think there’s untapped potential in the niche of premium shrimp. Maybe the market is getting oversaturated with the usual commodity shrimp, [so we’ll] start looking at other ways to compete.”
Soesilo is especially keen on the U.S. market, especially as the Sino-U.S. trade war drags on.
“Of course [it benefits],” he said. “We already receive inquiries that usually go to Chinese producers. We need to expand even more. The world shrimp market is still very open for the taking, especially the U.S.”
In the last few years, India has been the fastest-growing producer of shrimp, but Indonesia is not far behind, with an annual growth rate of 5 percent, making up about 20 percent of all shrimp imported to the U.S. Soesilo said PMMP is set to become one of the largest shrimp producers in the country when the new factory becomes operational. The completion date for the facility is set for the end of 2019, and it will bring the company’s production capacity up to 30,000 metric tons per year.
Soesilo said one other advantage his company has is Indonesia’s geography.
“Due to the many different islands that make up the nation, any diseases that arise from poor farming are mostly isolated and never cause a big enough damage to hurt supply,” he said.
PMMP has been focusing on only shrimp and has no plan to expand to other types of seafood, he said.
“Yes, we are a shrimp-only company, 100 percent exported too. Not looking at other seafood,” he said.
With more than 264 million inhabitants, Indonesia is on its way to becoming a viable seafood market, and Soesilo said the company is exploring possible opportunities to expand domestic sales.
“For Indonesia itself, we’re still studying if the domestic market is ready for frozen shrimp or not. I feel like our cold food chain is not ready,” Soesilo said.
Photo courtesy of PMMP
