Indonesian formaldehyde scare boosts organic food sales
Dated: 1 March 2006 Organic Monitor
Over a month ago, most people would have been turned off by the price of organic foods, packed their shopping basket with conventional items and patted themselves on the back for penny pinching.
But since the Indonesian formaldehyde scare reared its head a few weeks ago, more people have switched to organic food in the belief that it is safer and more nutritious.
The regular customers of Healthy Choice organic food store and restaurant, for example, had previously been health-conscious celebrities and overseas graduates, as well as elderly people with special dietary needs.
How things have changed. Over the last few weeks, both premises—in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, and Kemang, South Jakarta—have seen new customers coming in for something different.
"We've been getting a lot of new customers in our stores these past two weeks, and many said they wanted to try us because they were uncertain over what was safe to eat," says Healthy Choice's naturopath Riani Susanto.
Besides sampling the restaurant's all-organic hot pot and fried brown rice, they can also choose from the range of 1,200 organic products available, including vegetables, rice, cookies, seeds, ramen noodles and cough syrup.
The store's organic tofu products in particular have seen a dramatic increase in sales since it was discovered that much of the tofu sold in markets here was laced with carcinogenic formaldehyde.
Usually selling only 10 tofu squares per day, Riani reports the store now goes through 30 tofu squares a day, with each square weighing approximately 200 grams and selling for $2.70 (Rp 26,000) each.
"Our tofu is fully organic, the soybeans are not grown with pesticide, and are US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved. We don't use synthetic coloring, and definitely not formaldehyde," Riani says.
She recommends the consumption of lots of fresh green and orange vegetables and fruits such as broccoli, carrots, and papaya to strengthen the body's liver function in naturalizing poisons.
Although it is too early to determine the increase in organic consumer numbers, Ranch Market in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, is also selling more organic foods.
"Our sales of organic products have always been good, but there does seem to be an increase lately, although we cannot yet determine the numbers," Ranch Market's customer service representative Roni explains.
The supermarket sells a range of organic products including fresh vegetables, fruits, chicken, and eggs supplied from local producers such as Pater Agatho Elsener in Bogor and Bukit Organik in Bandung, West Java.
Roni says since the formaldehyde scare, Ranch Market had seen a drop in its tofu sales, which had now bounced back particularly after the supermarket required its suppliers to guarantee the safety of their products.
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