Despite the successful achievement of national development in the last 30 years (until July 1997), the Indonesian food industries are faced with several problems and constraints, particularly in the era of globalization, as follows: low efficiency and competitiveness of national food products, low expertise of human resources involved in the food industries, insufficient research and development activities in supporting technology innovation and transfer, and lack of infrastructure and institutional development relevant to the food industries.
For future development, the food industries must be backed up by strong commitment on the part of the government to select food industries as strategic industries. Strong backward linkages to the agricultural sector and forward linkages to meet the market and consumer demand must also support the food industries. A national program should be implemented to meet the opportunities and challenges of globalization, to promote the development of human resources, science and technology as well as the development of institutions and infrastructure.