PT Foodex Inti Ingredients was founded in 1995 and is currently the leading provider of Taste Solution to the food industry in Indonesia. From seasonings & flavor ingredients to sauces and beverage premixes, Foodex has successfully developed and manufactured products for the noodle, snacks, processed meats and food service industry.
Backed by strong marketing insights and technical development team, Foodex aims to create winning products for the customers.
Foodex current manufacturing facility is located on a 2-acre land in Delta Silicon, Cikarang with state of the art processing technology and advanced IT systems. Foodex manufacturing processes adhere to MUI Halal Assurance System and FSSC 22000 version 5.1.
Foodex believes in Taste that can tantalise each consumers. With relatable insights and collaborations with its stakeholders, Foodex is ready to listen and create the taste solution that speaks to the consumer.
What will Foodex showcase for the upcoming first Fi Asia 2022 event in Jakarta after COVID ?
In 2020, Fi Asia Jakarta was postponed due to the pandemic. Foodex will be joining the upcoming Fi Asia Jakarta in September 2022. “This year, we will highlight our strength as taste solution provider by showcasing various value-added natural ingredients and further processed natural ingredients in paste and powder form. We believe that these ingredients not only provide good taste, but also support good health. During Pandemic, consumers are more aware of the health and wellness; therefore, processing natural source materials will be our main focus,“ said Jenny Rusli, Business Development Director of Foodex.
• Dried spice mix powders are amongst the new creation that Foodex has created.
These dried spice powders can be used by food processors in various applications, from instant cooking mixes, instant soup mixes to snack seasonings. These ingredients can elevate taste experience, providing real taste of ‘cooked spice’ that may not be obtainable just by mixing single spice powders together. Indonesia has young population with millennials and gen-Z accounting for more than 50% of the population. With the rise in interest in cooking and with little time available, ingredients that can simplify and elevate eating experience will be increasingly in demand.
• In addition to dried spice mix powders, Foodex will also introduce fried spice paste, primarily fried garlic paste, fried onion paste and fried shallot paste. Fried garlic, onion and shallot play an important role in Indonesian and Asian kitchen, as these products improve taste profile of the food and give signature authentic note. Imagine tasting the fragrant fried shallot when you are eating your fried noodle (‘mie-goreng’). By having these ingredients in easy-to-use paste form, food processors can easily and consistently incorporate signature profile to their products.
• Cooking paste and sambals (Indonesian traditional chilli condiments) are made from natural ingredients and they are also one of Foodex specialties that will be showcased in FI Asia 2022. In Foodex, we have manufactured more than 20 types of Indonesian traditional sambals such as sambal matah from Bali, sambal woku from Manado and sambal bawang from East Java. In addition, we also manufacture traditional cooking paste from Indonesia such as Rendang Paste, Curry Paste and Nasi Goreng Paste. These products are made from natural materials and processed in large cooker before being pasteurised or sterilised in pouches. This technology ensures long shelf life of the products in ambient temperature storage. Sambals and pastes produced by Foodex is popular with QSR and food services as dipping ingredients, as well as being used by the snack and processed meat industries.
Could you update us on Foodex latest R&D and investment activities ?
“To better serve our customers, Foodex has opened a new Sales and Marketing office in Jakarta in addition to our existing manufacturing and R&D facility in Delta Silicon, Cikarang. We strongly believe in good partnership with our customers and by having a hub in Jakarta, this will enable our Sales team to interact more intensely with customers,” said Ms Rusli.
On the manufacturing side, Foodex has recently commissioned new pasteurisation facility to support development and production of cooking paste and sambals. In addition, completion of packaging lines for sauce and paste – both individual small sachets and bulk packaging – have also been completed. This enables Foodex to provide complete solution in sauces, sambals and cooking paste in various packaging formats to food service, processed meat, noodle and snack industries.
From the development side, Foodex has also taken the time to map out potential flavor trends in Indonesia and surrounding regions during the pandemic. “Taste is still the number one factor in driving food and beverage purchase, and remained so before and after pandemic (Mintel, 2021). We marry marketing insights, culinary exploration by Foodex internal chef and collaboration with external chef, as well as research and development technical knowledge to create taste solutions that are relevant to our customers. Local taste, travelling through taste (international popular flavor) and indulgent taste is predicted to be in trend for the short-medium term. We have developed new creations in savory and sweet seasonings, sauces and flavor ingredients to cater to this trend,” added Ms Rusli.
Foodex research and development lab features a wide range of capabilities: savory and sweet creation lab, sauce and ready-to-eat meal lab, processed meat and application lab, sensory evaluation facilities, culinary kitchen and pilot plant which allows its customers to work closely side by side with technical experts.
What is Foodex future long-term plan for both local and international markets ?
With dominance in the local and regional market, Foodex aims to aggressively expand its international market. First target will be increasing its presence in Middle East and Africa region. Foodex has strong expertise in creating seasoning and ingredients for instant noodle and snacks tailored to the local tastes and preferences – both categories are growing rapidly in both regions. Indonesia Halal assurance system is also accredited worldwide, a strong plus point for penetration to both regions.
In addition, Foodex also aims to penetrate the US market in the short to medium term. According to Mintel GNPD, spicy flavors are growing fastest globally. Technomic also pointed out that when dining out, consumers aged 35- 44 are more likely to order spicy food. Ms Rusli summed up, “All these trends strongly supported our planned penetration for Indonesian sambals, cooking paste and dried spice mix categories. Rendang and Nasi Goreng has gained international popularity, but creating the dishes from scratch may be challenging to those unfamiliar with them. Our paste and dried spice mix will greatly assist processors and food service industries in serving authentic, cost-efficient and consistent dish to their customers.”
Foodex has also joined government project called Indonesia Spice Up the World, where Foodex will be responsible to support 5 Indonesian taste: Rendang, Soto, Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice), Satay Peanut Sauces & Sweet Sauce.
