Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Great Giant Foods (GGF) Tommy Wattimena was one of the speakers at the National Seminar of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) and the 6th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Approaches for Sustainable Rural Development (ICMA-SURE) 2023, which took place at the Krishna Ballroom, Purwokerto, Tuesday (17/10).
The theme of the event was “Advancing Health and Sustainable Development in Rural Communities – Current Challenges and Future Opportunities.” Tommy Wattimena, as CEO of GGF, provided a comprehensive overview of strengthening cooperation between industry and education to optimize natural resources with export prospects for advanced Indonesia.
“Recently, I took part in the world’s largest food exhibition in Anuga Koln, Germany. I want to convey several trends in the food and beverage industry that can be used as research material and so on. Last year, the global market value of processed foods and vegetables reached around 320 billion US dollars, and is expected to grow by around 5.5% annually. If we divide the annual growth rate of the food processing market into three, food processing itself, process equipment, and in the Asia Pacific region, the growth is about 6%, much faster than other global regions.”
Tommy emphasized that Indonesia, which is on the Equator and has extraordinary wealth, has great potential for the future. However, he also highlighted the problems that need to be addressed in Indonesia, especially the problem of food loss and food waste which makes Indonesia the second largest country in the world after Saudi Arabia.
Apart from that, Tommy also said that Indonesia is ranked third in Southeast Asia in the Global Hunger Index, and also has a stunting problem. People do not yet enjoy adequate nutrition and nutritional intake because agricultural products and food production do not reach the hands of consumers. “The role of companies like Great Giant Foods is to ensure that we build distribution supply chains and invest in infrastructure to ensure that food produced by farmers gets to consumers at a fair price.”
“Great Giant Foods is committed to providing nutrition locally and internationally and ensuring that the business we do contributes positively to the environment and society. “We are confident that GGF is heading in the right direction by paying attention to a more sustainable environment and becoming a lasting legacy for future generations,” he said.
