Tiga Pilar to roll-out new food products

JAKARTA. Food company PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food (AISA) will launch a number of new products in 2013 to further boost its domestic and international sales , the company’s senior executive said.

Tiga Pilar finance director Sjambiri Lioe said in Jakarta on Friday that the new products would come from its food manufacturing and rice divisions.

In its food division, publicly listed Tiga Pilar manufactures dried noodles and snacks through brands including Ayam 2 Telor, Taro and Gulas. Meanwhile, in its rice division, it produces premium quality rice for the modern market and offers private label orders for several supermarkets and mini-marts. 

The first product to be launched is vegetable-flavored Taro, scheduled for the first quarter, Sjambiri said. At the moment, Taro snacks are available in eight flavors, ranging from cheese to steak.

The next products in-line includes premium dried noodles, Gulas candy fortified with vitamin C and Maknyos rice in the second quarter. The latter uses the Maknyos slogan made popular by noted food critic Bondan Winarno, who is serves on the company’s board of commissioners. 

“Maknyos rice will take on a new segment as it will be offered to traditional food vendors. They are familiar with Bondan,” Sjambiri said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Tiga Pilar will further extend its product portfolio in the third quarter by introducing a chocolate product, a new variant of Mie Kremezz noodle and an instant ketupat (traditional rice cake wrapped in leaves).

The ketupat launch will coincide with Idul Fitri as it is a staple food item during the religious holidays. Sjambiri touted that the ketupat would be sold as a single package, as an easy solution for people craving the rice cake. “We will use special material for the leaf wrapping. All people have to do is heat it up using a microwave or other appliances,” he added.

This year, the company plans to expand its export market as well. Tiga Pilar has been exporting its candy products to Canada, Malaysia, the Philippines and the US for the last two years, but only in small volume, according to Sjambiri. It expects to start selling the Taro snack to China, Malaysia and Myanmar, and its dried noodles to Germany and Italy between January and March.

Besides food manufacturing and rice, Tiga Pilar also runs its business in the palm oil sector. It has seven plantations, covering 93,000 hectares of concession areas in Kalimantan and Sumatra. By year’s end, it hopes to reach at least of 8,000 hectares in total planted areas. 

To support the expansion plan, Tiga Pilar has allocated Rp 200 billion (US$20.67 million) in capital expenditure funds. Most of the funds will be used to complete construction of two new rice mills in Sragen, Central Java, and to install an additional dried noodle production line at its Solo factory.

The new mills, with a total production capacity of 240,000 tons per year, are scheduled to begin operations between August and September. 

Meanwhile, the new dried noodle production line will increase its annual production volume to 66,000 tons from the current 54,000 tons per year.

Tiga Pilar aims to book Rp 5.25 trillion in revenue this year, 76.5 percent higher from the 2012 forecast. Its net profits target is set at around Rp 300 billion, growing by 41.5 percent from last year, according to Sjambiri. 

As of September 2012, Tiga Pilar’s total assets reached Rp 3.82 trillion. Its liabilities and equities amounted to Rp 1.84 trillion and Rp 1.98 trillion, respectively. (Tassia Sipahutar / The Jakarta Post)