Exporting Low GI-Claimed Healthy Food to Indonesia: Market & Regulation General Overview

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago with a population exceeding 270 million, presents a lucrative market for exporting healthy food products, especially those with a low glycemic index (GI). With a growing middle class and an increasing awareness of health and wellness, there is a rising demand for nutritious food options. This creates an excellent business opportunity for exporters of healthy, low-GI foods.

Low-GI foods are particularly appealing because they help manage blood sugar levels, which is crucial for preventing and managing diabetes—a significant health concern in Indonesia. The prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia has been steadily increasing, with estimates suggesting that nearly 10.7 million Indonesians are currently living with the condition. This statistic underscores the urgent need for dietary solutions that can help manage and prevent diabetes.

The trend of consuming healthy food has been rising significantly since 4 years ago, in the aftermath of the pandemic. People have become aware of the importance of health maintenance by consuming a balanced diet, taking supplements, and receiving sunlight for vitamin D production. 

Products claiming vegan and plant-based also gained sprouting recognition among the middle class in Indonesia. Plant-based bakeries, restaurants, catering, and even cafes are growing quite a number in cities such as Jakarta, Depok, Bogor, Surabaya, and Bali. Among the internationally booming milk substitute such as almond and oat, local entrepreneur Arummi introduced a locally sourced milk alternative based on cashews. 

Other food categories such as rice and noodle are also gain increasing demand for alternatives, resulting in a growing need for gluten-free and low-GI foods. Porang, local tubers which is known as the main ingredient of konjac (konyaku) has gained national recognition as the President himself supports the production and research of glucomannan-based food. Several porang rice brand has joined the rice alternative race such as Fukumi, Kareta Kin, Porice, and even Nutrifood (one of the biggest FMCG business) also launched porang rice under its brand, Tropicana Slim. 

Not only innovating on new products, some big FMCG companies such as Indofood, Mayora, Garuda Food, Wings Food, etc. also begun to reformulate their current products like sweetened tea, milk tea, and chocolate drinks now come with claims like “less sugar” and “less sodium”. The huge movement was also a form of response to the government’s new regulation over maximum daily sugar intake and other health concerns. 

BPOM, the regulatory body which controls imported products in Indonesia has broaden its food claim category. As previously unlisted, now people can claim vegan, low glycemic index (GI), low sugar, low fat, low sodium, fermented food, and even health benefits of specific nutrition contained in food products. Imported products can also put claims on the label by following several guidelines and must provide laboratory testing certificate related to the claim.

Nutritional / Non Nutritional Claim

• Producers may claim “low” or “free of” fat, sugar, sodium, calories, cholesterol, trans fat, etc.

• Claim for “high” in fat, fiber, and vitamins. 

• Gluten-Free is claimable for gluten-based products which use ingredients such as wheat, oat, barley, etc with processings to reduce it’s gluten content, or food using substitute flour to eliminate gluten content. 

• A similar condition also applied to Lactose-Free claim. Naturally, soy milk does not contain lactose, but in Indonesia, it is allowed for nut/bean-based milk substitutes to claim “lactose free”.

Must provide laboratory CoA as proof. Please note that BPOM (Indonesia) may accept international parameters such as ISO method and AOAC method.

Health benefit claim, Low GI claim

The Indonesian government is actively supporting the innovation and distribution of low glycemic index (GI) food products as part of its broader strategy to improve public health and combat diabetes. Recognizing the importance of dietary management in preventing and managing diabetes, the government has introduced several initiatives aimed at promoting low-GI foods. 

Several companies in Indonesia known to produce such food categories are Kalbe, Fresenius, mGanik, and Nutrifood. Low-GI food products, known to be the ideal food for diabetic patients, could also be suitable for non-diabetic consumers. Certain companies have tested their rice alternatives with Mbrio Food Laboratory resulting in low GI food aimed to distribute in MT (modern trade market), targeting the non-diabetic consumers, and beginning to receive awareness among the market. 

Customer Education and Claim Awareness

Social media strategy also plays a huge role in spreading awareness of our product. Some brands are collaborating with dieticians, publishing webinars, and making social media content about diet education. Showing laboratory results as evidence of the claimed product could have become the main strategy to gather trust from customers. 

Of course, the claim was to be announced in every marketing media including packaging labels. BPOM allowed businesses to put claims on packaging labels, and regarding the GI claim, here are three considered claims available to be stated:

Low GI : lower than 55 score

Medium GI :  must between 55 - 75 score

High GI : higher than 75 score

The score has to be determined through laboratory examination, refer to ISO 26642-2010 standard, and conducted in an accredited facility. Mbrio Food Laboratory complies not only with ISO standards but also with Indonesian BPOM’s requirements. Testing results will be delivered within 2-3 months. We are opening a batch of GI testing every quarter (three months). If you are interested in discussing further about GI, possible food, testing, and Indonesian regulation please feel free to contact us.