The Sleman Salak Growers Association Primasembada has received orders for salak chips up to 1 ton per month to the US.
Farmers are asked to comply with a number of requirements such as proper labelling of nutrient content information, kosher and halal certifications, food safety, and good agriculture practice certification. Farmers have completed most requirements, and are in the process of getting a food safety certification.
Other countries targeted for Sleman salak chip export include Sweden and New Zealand. Moreover, New Zealand will fund the international organic certification for the products.
Primasembada Slemans’ salak chips production could reach up to 1.25 tons per month . The farmers can produce 2-3 tons of fresh salak per month and able to produce salak throughout the year. The abundance in production has encouraged the farmers also to export fresh fruit to nearby markets in China , Singapore, and Hong Kong.
While salak chips are the most export-friendly because of its long shelf life, the fruit are also processed into a variety of food products such as juice , porridge , ‘dodol’ , ‘suwar – suwir’ , ‘bakpia’ , caramel , and ‘wajik’. The salak seeds and skin can also be utilized as materials for manufacturing bags.
About 300 hectares in Primasembada are cultivated with salak by 26 farmer groups. Widi Sutikno, head of the Department of Agriculture , Fisheries, and Forestry Sleman Regency, explained that local farmers are planting honey salak and salak ivory varieties. Salak farmers are scattered in a number of districts namely Tempel , Turi , and Pakem. Turi District has the largest number of producers., with at least 104 farmer groups of about 30-100 people .
Source: Republika Online