Springport farmer Matthew Chapman has traveled the world selling and promoting Indiana soybeans to international markets.
Chapman serves as a director on the United Soybean Board (USB), which is a member of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). Recently, Chapman represented USB on a trip to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia) for the Southeast Asia Buyers Conference. The trip took place Sept. 12-18.
“Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world,” Chapman said. “The southeast Asia market has rapidly-growing income and the current generation is looking to buy/add more protein to their diet. Soybeans, in the form of Tempe, are a very affordable and desirable protein source in Southeast Asia. They almost exclusively buy U.S. whole soybeans for Tempe consumption. They love Midwestern soybeans because of the consistency of the color and size, and they believe it makes the best-tasting Tempe compared to all other soybeans produced around the world.”
In a Sept. 18 social media post, the USSEC said that during the conference, U.S. soybean producers met with key Indonesian government and industry stakeholders to advance trade and deepen collaboration.
“A key milestone was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between USSEC and FKS Multi Agro, part of FKS Group,” the post said.
FKS Multi-Agro is an Indonesian company involved in distribution and supply chain management.
“This partnership aims to strengthen the country’s local food ecosystem by supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with technical training, promoting innovation and expanding access to high-quality U.S. soy,” the post continued. “In a separate meeting, the team engaged with Dr. Ali Murtopo Simbolon, deputy minister at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, to explore opportunities for soy trade cooperation to facilitate quick action in response to the recent U.S.-Indonesia trade agreement.”
In Henry County, most farmers sell directly to a local processor (an elevator) such as The Andersons, Keystone Cooperative, Bunge etc. Those companies then sell the beans to processors and buyers around the world.
“Farmers don’t generally sell directly to any market outside the U.S.,” Chapman said. “It goes through a third party. The closest soybean producer whose soybeans go directly to Indonesia is in Greensburg, Indiana.”
Chapman said the information he gained from the trip to Jakarta will help him educate local farmers and consumers that 50 percent of soybean production is exported around the world to provide protein not only for human consumption, but for animal consumption such as fish feed or livestock feed.
On average, the Chapman family produces about 4,000 tons of soybeans each year. They also grow corn and wheat and operate four hog facilities, each of which contains 4,000 pigs.
“All of our buyers from around the world love to learn about our farms and culture,” Chapman said. “In general, they love American soybeans because we are consistent and reliable. We have reliable transportation, processing and manufacturing.”
Soybeans grown in the United States are shipped internationally in large containers. While in Jakarta, Chapman toured the original port that was built in the mid-1500s, as well as the new, modern port. He also visited the old town square from the mid-1600s.
Besides Jakarta, Chapman has traveled to many other countries for agriculture-related business. He’s been to China twice, as well as Vietnam, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, Singapore, Morocco and Dubai.
“All these trips were for similar purposes – to sell Indiana soybeans around the world!” he said.
– Story by Katie Clontz (kclontz@TheCourierTimes.com) of The Courier-Times. Read more local stories at TheCourierTimes.com.
