Online sales of Australian beef in Indonesia a way to boost live cattle trade

24 May 2018

By Lydia Burton on 23 April 2018, on abc.net.au.

A digital marketing company in Indonesia plans on tapping into direct online sales of beef with Aussie cattle at the forefront of its campaign.

Sikumis.com sells agricultural produce direct from farmers to hotels, restaurants, catering businesses and consumers through its online platform, with a goal to reduce the stakeholders in the supply chain and increase profitability for farmers.

But when it comes to beef, Indonesia relies on Australian cattle to supply its feedlots and abattoirs, as Indonesia cannot come close to providing enough beef for its population of 260 million people.

Now, Sikumis.com founder, Edward S Siagian wants to connect Indonesian customers directly with Australian cattle producers through the current live export trade.

“We still want cattle to come live to Indonesia and be fed and processed locally [in Indonesia].

“Then our big customers consisting of hotels, restaurants and catering businesses will buy live cattle selected from the website, which will then be tailor cut in our partner’s slaughterhouse.”

As part of its marketing strategy Sikumis.com wants to tell the story of the beef.

“When you go to the website it will have a video of the cattle [say] in the Northern Territory, telling the story of where the beef has come from,” Mr Siagian said.

“You will also see images of the cattle coming in on the next shipment, so you can select which animal you would like to buy.”

Online beef sales to boost demand for Aussie cattle

Indonesia is Australia’s largest market for live cattle, taking up to 700,000 head in record years.

But over the last two years demand for Aussie cattle has weakened due to high cattle prices in Australia and the introduction of cheaper frozen Indian buffalo meat.

With the majority of beef sold at wet markets in Indonesia, where Australian beef is currently being mixed up with the Indian buffalo meat, Sikumis.com wanted to find a way to ensure Aussie beef remained distinctive in the market.

“I think this [direct online sales of Aussie beef] is a way to combat the non-premium beef that has been coming in and perhaps stop new players from coming in … like Brazil.

“This will help us have a good relationship with Australia.”

Mr Siagian hoped by selling the beef directly to large customers they would be able to afford more expensive beef.

Internet pivotal for future of all agriculture

According to Mr Siagian “farmers will be left behind if they are not online”.

“Currently the total value of beef consumption is about AU$5.5 billion in Indonesia.

“What we are doing is tapping into that market hoping to be the leading player in the next two years.”