Yessar Rosendar – Indonesia's growing appetite for nibbles over the past year dished up profits at Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya, one of the country's biggest snack-food makers by sales. Shares have roughly doubled since January to lift the fortune of Garudafood head Sudhamek Agoeng Waspodo Soenjoto to $995 million.
Third-quarter net profit at the Indonesia-listed firm skyrocketed over 80% year-on-year to 370 billion rupiah ($26 million), on 6.3 trillion rupiah in revenue, recovering from a pandemic-induced hit to 2020 earnings (down 9% to 7.7 trillion rupiah from a year earlier). Indonesian cheese producer Mulia Boga Raya, which Garudafood bought in September for $65 million, also gave a boost; its revenue grew by 7% to 735 billion rupiah in the June-September period.Garudafood expects full-year sales will rise 10% this year, with countrywide F&B growth pegged at around 6% on easing lockdown restrictions, according to the Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association. With most of its sales to households, this year Garudafood launched into Indonesia's wellness market with herbal medicines, while its distribution arm Sinarniaga Sejahtera began selling medical devices. Separately, it invested about $1.5 million in a peanut farm and a corn farm to support snack production.
Sudhamek's father, Darmo Putro, founded Tudung, a tapioca-flour producer, in 1958. Over the past six decades its flagship Garudafood expanded to include biscuits, nuts, chocolates and chips as well as beverages. Sudhamek, who chairs Tudung, became president commissioner of Garudafood in 2018.