Indonesia has abundant natural resource, and since the old times, Indonesian spices were the most sought after. The Portuguese was the first country to set foot in Indonesia, which discovered spices that had so many benefits, followed by the Spanish, then came the Dutch to control the spice-producing areas. Spices became the beginning of the arrival of Europeans to Indonesia. It even became a commodity with high selling value at that time. In 1641 the Dutch established the VOC after the Portuguese lost. The VOC became the richest private company of all time in implementing monopoly policy, which changed the color of the world trade.

After the VOC trading period was over, it is started in the third decade after the independence day, the Indonesian government concerns again with spices. Although it was still limited to cloves, the impact of this commodity had a high selling value, helping to fulfill the Indonesian economy. Even though the interest in cloves has been gone ups and downs, but when the monetary crisis occurred in 1998, the plantation commodities including spices became the savior of the Indonesian economy.

The government has launched various programs to “Reviving the Glory of Indonesian Spices”. The potential for Indonesian spices and plantations is able to contribute to the national economy and is expected to become a world trade trademark like in the old times.

In the process, as per 2019 data recorded the export volume of Indonesian spices with pepper, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon commodities reaching 650,000 tons with a value of USD625.3 million. About 55-60% of spice species exist in Indonesia. In terms of spice export, Indonesia is ranked on number 4 in the world.

In other commodities, namely coconut, coconut has the largest plantation area in Indonesia, wider than rubber and oil palm, which is around 26% of the total plantation area. That’s why Indonesia is the largest coconut producer in the world, valued at around 18.3 million tonnes per year The main competitor producing countries are only the Philippines and India. While other countries are only able to produce coconuts below 3 million tons per year, Indonesia has a strength point in terms of production volume. So it is more likely to be able to offer more competitive price.

The potential of total world coconut export value in 2019 valued at USD11.6 billion, and Indonesia dominated at USD2.17 billion. However, this value is still relatively small when compared to the potential that has not been managed optimally.

Starting from the potential and seeing the huge demand for global exports of coconut and spices, PT Arkara Agro Indonesia was established in 2022, domiciled at Tiara Regency, Goalpar, Sukabumi, Indonesia, as a supplier/exporter of spices and coconut products. We believe we can contribute to a better and sustainable world by bringing quality products. PT Arkara Agro Indonesia is passionate about making a sustainable impact, for Indonesia and for the world.