Dian Kusumo Hapsari
In 2023, the Ministry of Industry cooperated with several large-scale sago starch producers in the country to boost capacity utilization.
"The utilization of national sago starch industry production is still very low, below 30 percent. This is a result of the industry's limitations in obtaining sago pith raw materials," he said.
He further said that the government is working with the sago starch industry to develop an industrial business model for using unprocessed sago from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as a raw material in the industry.
The use of unprocessed sago sourced from MSMEs is expected to slow down the oxidation process, thereby allowing the range of industrial raw materials to become wider and providing added value to sago farmers.
Sago starch, famous as a papeda (sago congee) ingredient, has started to be used in modern foods, such as instant noodles and artificial rice.
