Seaweed is a type of marine plant and algae that usually grow in the ocean, coastal area, river, lakes and any type of watery environment. Specifically for marine types, it also has long been known as a natural resource that gives many benefits for human life, ranging from direct food, highly-processed healthy products, animal feed to a material of combating carbon emission. Due to its huge benefits, seaweed has been cultivated globally especially in tropical areas where it can grow on a massive scale. There are many types of seaweed that are cultivated globally for commercial use such as Eucheuma Cottonii, Kappaphycus Striatus (Sacol seaweed), Gracilaria Sp., Spinosum, Sargassum and many others.
In Indonesia itself, as it is situated in equatorial zone, various types of seaweed grow well and have been commercially farmed by the residents or farmers. To provide a holistic view of the seaweed market in Indonesia, to date, it has been farmed in over 1 million coastal areas and has contributed to improve the farmers’ life as well as to the Indonesian economy in significant numbers. Indonesia is the 2nd largest global seaweed producer which occupies 39% of the global seaweed production (FAO, 2018). To explain further, there are approximately over 12.2 million hectares of coastal area that are suitable for seaweed farming in this country (The Nature Conservancy, 2017). Although challenges continuously hit the seaweed industry in recent years, ranging from an unstable crop yield to the unstable market demand and supply, Indonesia is predicted to sustain its position as a global player.
Global seaweed production in 2016
The farming areas for seaweed in Indonesia stretch from Sumatra Island, Java Island, Sulawesi Island, Kalimantan Island, West & East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku Islands. The seaweed farms in those areas are dominated by Eucheuma Cottonii and the rest are for Eucheuma Spinosum, Gracilaria sp, Kappaphycus Striatus (Sacol seaweed) and Sargassum sp (Kompas.id, September 2023). Eucheuma Cottonii becomes the most planted seaweed in Indonesia due to its high global market demand in comparison to other types of seaweed.
There are many seaweed manufacturers in Indonesia which process the dried seaweeds into value added products in the market such as carrageenan and agar products. Carrageenan is a seaweed product that is widely used in food and non-food industries for thickener, emulsifier, suspending agent, gelling agent, stabiliser and even for cosmetics use. PT.Indosky Ekspor & Import is one of the leading seaweed manufacturers in Indonesia which produces carrageenan products such as ATCC (Alkali-treated Carrageenan Chips), SRC (Semi-refined Carrageenan) and RC (Refined Carrageenan). Established since 2018, our factory in Situbondo (East Java province), in collaboration with PT.Greenone Biotechnology has produced the best quality of carrageenan products and has been sold to the global market to date.
In respect of the quality assurance, our carrageenan products have been certified with Halal Certification, GMP, HACCP, ISO and Kosher Certification. We are also committed to continuously improve our production management and certification so that it can provide up-to-date carrageenan best products for our respected customers.
