A new farm to supply fresh chicken to Singapore could be up and running in Batam if there is healthy demand over the next year. Mr Suryo Pratomo, the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, said on Thursday (July 21) that he has talked to some producers in Indonesia who are looking into setting up the farm. They hope to have an understanding of the demand in Singapore by next year so that they can determine if they should set up a farm, he said. Issues like the size of the farm would have to be decided. "If we can set up the farm in Batam, it will not take a long time to bring live chickens to Singapore," he added. Last month, the director-general for animal husbandry and health at Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry, Dr Nasrullah, told
The Straits Times that a team from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) was in Indonesia on June 14 to assess some farms, slaughterhouses and processing facilities. Mr Suryo was speaking to reporters at Leong Hup Distribution's fully automated warehouse in Fishery Port Road, where the first shipment of frozen chicken from Indonesia arrived on Sunday. Mr Suryo said the consignment of 50 tonnes of frozen chicken came from Jakarta. The Straits Times understands that they have already been sold out, with chicken rice stalls forming the bulk of the buyers. More shipments are set to arrive in the weeks ahead. Mr Suryo said he expects a total of 1,000 tonnes of frozen chicken to arrive in Singapore by the end of the year. For comparison, Singapore imported close to 73,000 tonnes of chicken from Malaysia in 2021.