The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) received a visit from Foodventures, a Dutch company engaged in agriculture, on Wednesday (24/4/2024). Foodventures offers cooperation in the agricultural sector.

The visit was attended by Kadin East Java Chairman Adik Dwi Putranto, Deputy Chairman for Plantation, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Ulya Abdillah, Deputy Chairman for MSMEs M. Idrus Yahya and Deputy Chairman for Cooperatives M. Diah Agus Muslim as well as Kadin Malang Regency, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Batu City Kadin and a number of business players in the agricultural sector in East Java.

Business Development Southeast Asia Foodventures, Lennart Knot revealed that Foodventures is one of the major companies in the Netherlands that has long been involved in agriculture, especially green houses.

"We bring agricultural technology, especially greenhouse farming that has existed in the Netherlands for almost a century, to various other countries that do not have an ecosystem related to greenhouse farming. That's why our company started in eastern Europe, because it doesn't exist there," said Lennart Knot.

Currently, Foodventures has projects in 10 countries including Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, America and Sweden. "And now we want to invest in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia. Indonesia in our opinion is the biggest and most suitable market for Foodventures projects," he said.

Based on this desire, Foodventures together with GMBS Business Support are making a visibility study for the possibility of investing in Indonesia. This cooperation is also expected to transfer technology because later they will use agricultural technology in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is one of the countries that is quite advanced in the application of agricultural technology.

"We visited several places in Indonesia that are suitable, both in terms of markets and greenhouse construction locations. And today we are very happy to visit Kadin Jatim to meet with a number of parties in East Java related to agriculture who can help us to find partners or suitable places to create new projects," continued Lennart Knot.

There are several options for the form of cooperation that will be carried out, which can be in the form of suppliers, customers or agricultural marketing and investment partners, especially for horticultural commodities, namely vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, cucumbers, or peppers.

"Actually, we are looking in all these categories. And this visit is the first time, some parties have provided contacts and information which will be continued in further meetings or meetings," he said.

He emphasised that East Java is one of the choices because East Java is an area with a large market, a very large population and is the entrance to eastern Indonesia. Moreover, there is now a trans Java toll road so that distribution from East Java to Central Java and West Java is quite easy.

"For the investment value, we will adjust it to the size and technology, but it is approximately Rp 50 billion for one project," said Lennart Knot.

GMBS Business Support Principal Advisor Maarten Smit added that he is currently assisting Foodventures in mapping the horticulture market in Indonesia, especially greenhouse-grown horticulture.

The research results show that East Java is a good market for vegetable cultivation, especially Malang. Surabaya is the second largest city in Java after Jakarta, both in terms of population and consumption and demand. The purchasing power of the people is also high enough to accept quality vegetable products.

"We have also observed in West Java, there is a desire from consumers to improve food safety. So there are products that have pesticide residues. We want to overcome the challenges there to provide food that is safe and tastes better, has the right texture and is attractive in modern markets, hypermarket supermarket retail as well as hotels, restaurants and cafes (Horeka)," explained Maarten Smit.

He emphasised that the challenge in Indonesia and in East Java is the continuity of horticultural products in the market because it depends on the season. And the Greenhouse from Foodventures is a solution because it can produce healthy food throughout the year for the community. "Good management practices and good agriculture practices are key," he emphasised.

Responding to this desire, Adik Dwi Putranto said that this is an opportunity for the development of agriculture in East Java and also an opportunity for entrepreneurs and farmers in East Java to be able to learn greenhouse and hydroponic technology in the practice of growing horticultural commodities, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

"It is certainly an opportunity for entrepreneurs in East Java to be able to cooperate. Those from the Netherlands are open, can invest, can rent land or others. Let's ask our friends in East Java. They can take advantage of this opportunity," said Adik.

He said that greenhouse and hydroponic technology is indeed expensive in the short term, but in the long term, it is more attractive because the products produced will be more hygienic and production is more certain because there is no season, all year round.

Regarding the potential of the domestic hydroponic horticulture market, according to him, it is quite large, so the initial stage will be focused on the domestic market. "Moreover, hydroponic vegetable commodities have a higher selling value than agricultural commodities grown with other technologies," he added.

This project will be a pilot project to educate the public that hydroponic technology is much healthier and more efficient because the nutrients provided can be adjusted to the needs of the plants. "The use of hydroponic technology is to avoid climate and pests because currently the development of pests is continuous. In the long run, it is quite efficient," he concluded.