David P Sirait as Director of Operations for Indonesia Port Corporation (IPC) and his staff paid a working visit to PT Great Giant Pineapple (GGP) Terbanggi Besar, Central Lampung, Friday (10/6/22)

The working visit was welcomed by Maria Imawati as Traffic Manager along with other GGP management groups. During this visit, the IPC group had the opportunity to see the GGP business process, starting from operational activities in plantations to the canned pine production process at Cannery.

During this visit, David and his staff had an agenda to discuss investment and port development, especially for Panjang Port. David, who also manages Regional Container Terminal 2 Jakarta, Pontianak, Panjang Lampung, Palembang, Teluk Bayur, and Jambi, also explained that IPC Panjang is a sustainable state-owned company as a gateway to the economy in Lampung Province.

“We from Jakarta want to see directly where the production of export goods goes through the port. At the same time, we want to know how the business will go in the future, the challenges of obstacles, especially those through the port that we can collaborate with for efficient and effective export of products from Lampung to abroad, “explained David.

The Container Port always supports the acceleration of the movement of goods and documents through the port, including with other agencies. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic yesterday, there was difficulty in cargo, difficulties in loading ships, thus giving high prices for pineapple export cargo, he added.

In this case, David admits that his party continues to communicate with the shipping line regarding the problems that have caused the price to be high. This problem is also not only the responsibility of IPC as the port manager, but involves various stakeholders related to supporting business activities including empty container depot operators.

“From the port side, our commitment is clear that there should not be any obstacles to activities at the port. Therefore, IPC has built a depot that is very close to directly entering the Port terminal,” said David.

This commitment can be seen from a close distance between the empty container depot of Petikemas and the port placed inside the Container Terminal. This has been approved by the Customs and Excise and Harbormaster and Port Authority (KSOP).

On the other hand, Ima, as Traffic Manager, said that GGP has 2 major export products, namely Canned Pineapple and Fresh Banana and Pine, sometimes having problems with service empty. When it has entered the stuffing stage, new containers arrive so they are in a hurry from the port even though it can take quite a long time.
“Sometimes we are confused that empty containers cannot be immediately withdrawn because the letter has not yet been released from customs,” explained Ima.

In general, it is safer to use containers, but the price given is high and the customer is forced to take it. Hyundai has already looked at the GGP, and they will be serious about bringing in the container, he added. In the near future, IPC will invest 1 unit of the latest equipment to speed things up, if there are ships that are late, they can continue to serve directly so that exports are not held back. from the equipment maybe in the last 2 years we will complete it again, concluded David.

In the midst of the growing economic situation and the increasing demand for the Indonesian market for fresh fruits, Sunpride as one of the fresh fruit producers in Indonesia seized the opportunity by inaugurating the Pressurized Ripening Facility or the largest and most sophisticated banana ripening facility in Indonesia on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.

The facility, located in the operational area of ​​the PT Sewu Segar Nusantara (SSN) office in Tangerang, Banten, was inaugurated by the President Commissioner of Gunung Sewu Kencana (GSK) Group, Husodo Angkosubroto who was accompanied by Ted Margono and Eddy Tamboto as Managing Director of GSK, Tommy Wattimena as CEO of Great Giant Foods (GGF), and Cindyanto Kristian as CEO of Fresh Fruit and Go to Market GGF.

Previously, Sunpride already had a modern banana ripening facility located in Surabaya, showing readiness and was inaugurated in mid-2019. Meanwhile, the New Pressurized Ripening facility which was just inaugurated in Tangerang has several advantages, including having a larger capacity, a more uniform temperature distribution to produce a uniform level of banana ripeness, an automatic ripening process, and less handling that can reduce the risk of box and damaged fruit.

With all these advantages, the banana ripening process will be maximized and evenly distributed so that it is expected to be able to produce the best quality product. Thanks to the commitment of the SSN team, the construction of the New Pressurized Ripening facility can also be completed according to the predetermined time target and zero accident.

This is in line with the commitment to always serve the best quality fruits and are safe for consumption for Indonesian families, as stated by President Commissioner of GSK Group Husodo Angkosubroto in his speech, “So this is an achievement for us, Indonesia imports a lot of fruit. Indonesia should be a fruit exporter that can supply at least in Asia and the Middle East. So what we are building now is the most advanced, most modern Ripening Room so that we can supply the Indonesian people with the best that is not inferior, even better than the imported ones,” he said.

Several series of inauguration events, including welcome remarks, ribbon cutting, signing of placards or certificates, then cutting of tumpeng, followed by a tour that shows the operational readiness of this ripening facility. Also present were PT SSN’s partners from modern trade accounts, subdistributor partners, inbound and outbound transporter partners, development project partners, local police and government officials and banking partners who always support Sunpride’s operational activities.