KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. PT Mulia Boga Raya Tbk, the issuer of the Prochiz cheese brand, is preparing various business strategies amidst the current economic uncertainty and consumer purchasing power. (KEJU)

KEJU's CEO, Indrasena Patmawidjaja, stated that the company's management will focus on expanding distribution in the retail sector to solidify Prochiz's market share. As of December 2023, Prochiz successfully secured the number 1 position with a 27.75% market share in the domestic retail market. 

“Our task is to ensure that the established trend becomes our foundation. For 2024, our focus is primarily on ensuring the execution of our strategy," revealed Indrasena during a Virtual Public Presentation on Wednesday (24/4). 

He continued, KEJU is also focusing this year on developing the food service sector. The reason being, this sector experienced rapid demand growth last year. 

According to Indrasena, the food service market can grow significantly due to an increase in people dining out over the past two years or since the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided. 

“The market outside of retail is likely to grow larger. So dining out will increase from the past two years, the retail sector will also grow but not as fast as food service," he added. 

Thirdly, as part of PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk (GOOD), KEJU will continue to synergize with GOOD to achieve operational excellence. This will allow them to reach more consumers, especially in the General Trade retail sector. 

When asked about business prospects for 2024, KEJU management is optimistic about doubling the growth of the national cheese industry. They estimate that the growth of the national cheese industry this year will be in the range of 5%-7%. 

“For the bottom line, we will be much more efficient in our operations," he continued. 

KEJU management did not specify in detail the allocation of capital expenditure (Capex) targeted this year. Indrasena only mentioned that the capex for 2024 is 80% higher than that of 2023.

This year's capex funds will be used to increase production capacity in line with the increase in demand for certain product categories. 

Throughout 2023, KEJU recorded net sales of IDR 1.01 trillion, or 2.4% lower year on year (YoY) compared to IDR 1.04 trillion in 2022. By product category, block cheese sales led with a contribution of IDR 810.19 billion, followed by sheet cheese IDR 186.85 billion, and others IDR 22.62 billion. 

As of the end of last December, KEJU recorded a net profit of IDR 80.34 billion. This figure also shrank from the previous IDR 117.37 billion the previous year. 

Editor: Syamsul Azhar