Cargill, Wichita, Kan., and So Good Food, a wholly-owned Indonesian subsidiary of agri-food company Japfa, entered into a 60-40 joint venture to produce and supply fully-cooked poultry products in Indonesia. The strategic partnership will leverage Cargill’s broad industry expertise to boost So Good Food’s capabilities in consumer food processing technologies, product innovation and quality assurance. Cargill and Japfa will also work together to produce a new range of value-added consumer food products.

The joint venture company, Cahaya Gunung Foods (Shining Mountain Foods), will provide toll manufacturing for So Good Food, and supply high-quality products to quick-service restaurants, hotels, restaurants and the foodservice sector as well as convenience stores and petrol kiosks in Indonesia. Cahaya Gunung Foods will also have the capability to export products to the region.

“Indonesia is an important growth market for Cargill. This is our first venture in the poultry business in Indonesia, and we are excited to be partnering with Japfa. We will implement our world-class systems and processes to ensure high-quality chicken products through our broad industry expertise and quality standards,” says Derek Schoonbaert, general manager Cargill Protein Southeast Asia, and new managing director of Cahaya Gunung Foods.

“We are pleased to further cement our relationship with Cargill, whom we have had a long-standing business relationship with,” adds On Tan Yong Nang, chief executive officer of Japfa. “To be selected as Cargill’s JV partner is testament of Japfa’s high-quality, food safety and welfare standards. We look forward to strengthening our capabilities and know-how with Cargill’s broad industry expertise, and deliver even better quality chicken products.”

Cahaya Gunung Foods will initially operate out of So Good Food’s existing value-added meat plant at Boyolali, Indonesia, and take over the employment of the employees at the processing facility. Both companies will look to invest and expand the operations together, focusing on new premium products.  

Meanwhile, So Good Food will continue to operate its four meat processing plants in Indonesia, focused on producing downstream branded ready-to-eat consumer food products such as chicken nuggets, meatballs and shelf-stable sausages.