From zero to good. Now from good to great for Indonesia’s PT MS
In 1988, Pinoto Prijadi founded PT Matahari Sakti (also known as ‘MS’) as a family business in Surabaya, East Java to produce the Feng Li brands of shrimp feeds. Daughter Puspita Dewi Prijadi took over the business in 1991 and is now owner and president director. Since then it has progressed to become one of the leading fish and shrimp feed producers in Indonesia. On 22 June PT MS had a large celebration for its 25th anniversary with 1,200 guests, comprising customers, agents and feed users, representatives from the government, academia from local universities, industry organisations and partners and employees who have contributed to the success of the company. President Director Puspita Dewi attributed the successful development of PT MS to support from the aqua farming industry in Indonesia and to the dedication of staff located in all corners of the archipelago, from Sumatra to Papua. “We are proud of our achievements. Our products are sold all over indonesia and we are the first local company to enter the international fish and shrimp markets of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Bangladesh and Africa, although this is still small at 5% of output. In 2013, MS can produce an average of 15,000 tonnes per month or approximately180,000 tonnes per year,” said Puspita Dewi. The company now produces a range of feeds for shrimp and fish. Aside from aquafeeds, it also produces pet feeds. Currently, there are two feed factories in East Java,in Surabaya and Gempol, Pasuruan, A new plant is being built in West Java.
A right time
The establishment of the shrimp feed business was appropriate as in 1988, shrimp farming was booming and amidst several feed
companies, there were only a small number of home grown companies. However, as Iwan Sutanto, president of Shrimp Club Indonesia, who at that time was also starting shrimp farming in Lampung, said. “Farmers were then looking for quality feeds. Together with the rising industry, MS worked with us, farmers, as we faced one challenge after another from white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and later the hard times with the infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV).” Puspita Dewi said, “We have a role to play in national development. With a large population, Indonesia is a huge market for food products, particularly fish. Fish consumption from year to year continues to increase. In 2010, nationally, fish consumption was 30.48 kg/capita/ year, and for 2013 the target is 33 kg/capita/year. The increase per capita consumption is driven by public awareness that fish is a nutritious food, beneficial for human health. “We have been together with industry and the government. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has set a target of aquaculture production amounting to 16.9 million tonnes for 2014, and MS will strive to contribute to this target.” MS is also recognised for its role in the development of marine and freshwater fish feeds. It is one of the few companies producing and marketing marine fish feeds. Today it markets the Megami brand and has become one of the top suppliers of feeds for the production of various species of groupers in Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2000 it started the production of pelleted feeds for freshwater fish feeds, namely for the Clarias catfish and tilapia. It was the first local company to produce extruded feeds for tilapia in 2002. Other firsts have been the launching of the ISO 9001:2000 program for feed quality in 2007 and later its upgrading to ISO 9001:2008. July/August 2013 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific Magazine | 47
developments
Home grown aquafeed producer is now 25 years old