Royal Agro Industri to lift coconut processing above 2 million nuts a day with fourth plant in Riau

Indonesian coconut processor PT Royal Agro Industri (RAI) is installing new production equipment at two of its existing plants and building a fourth factory in Riau, a programme the company says will lift the combined capacity of its network to more than 2 million coconuts a day from 2027. Chief executive Johanna set out the plan to reporters on Friday, 18 September 2026, medcom.id reported.

Four plants, 2.1 million nuts a day

RAI currently operates three coconut processing plants: PT Dewa Agricoco Industri in Halmahera, North Maluku; PT Tri Mustika Cocomanaesa in Manado, North Sulawesi; and PT Samuda Coco Indonesia in Sampit, Central Kalimantan. A fourth site, PT Garuda Coco Industri, is under construction in Riau. "Because global demand for processed coconut keeps rising, we are currently building one more plant in Riau, PT Garuda Coco Industri," Johanna said.

Once the expansion is complete, the Riau facility is projected to handle up to 1 million coconuts a day, according to capacity figures given by Johanna to medcom.id. Manado is put at around 500,000 nuts a day, Sampit at 350,000 and Halmahera at 250,000. That adds up to 2.1 million a day, the figure cited by elshinta.com in its report on the expansion.

The new machinery is supplied by Beyond of China and will be installed in Manado, Sampit and Riau, medcom.id reported. At Manado and Sampit it will add production lines to plants already running; in Riau it forms part of a facility being equipped for production from the start, according to inews.id. "Next year, all the new equipment can be used for production," Johanna said.

Moving down the value chain

The added capacity is aimed at broadening the range of coconut derivatives the group produces:

• desiccated coconut, low fat
• desiccated coconut, high fat
• coconut milk
• crude coconut oil
• charcoal
• cocofiber
• cocopeat

RAI's processed coconut products are already sold in more than 33 countries, among them Germany, Spain, Turkey, China and the United States, medcom.id reported. Owner Jerry Hermawan Lo said domestic processing changes the trading pattern for the crop. "In the past Indonesian coconuts were exported whole, as round coconuts, at cheap prices. Now, with this plant, we can process them first before exporting. Processed coconut of course has a far higher economic value. This is what is called coconut downstreaming," he said.

Raw material, jobs and a scholarship levy

Raw material availability is one of the determining factors in the expansion. The company works with thousands of coconut farmers across several regions and runs mentoring and training programmes intended to raise their productivity. Jerry said domestic processing widens farmers' involvement in the industry chain and creates employment; the plants currently employ thousands of workers. "Not many countries have coconut plantations. One of the largest is Indonesia," he said.

RAI also sets aside Rp10 from every coconut it processes to finance the Beasiswa Kelapa, or Coconut Scholarship. The scheme is intended to support 2,000 agriculture students; about 1,300 have received it so far, at institutions including Universitas Lampung, Universitas Sumatera Utara, IPB University, Universitas Hasanuddin, Universitas Sam Ratulangi and Universitas Riau, according to medcom.id.

The group is also developing further uses for the parts of the nut left over after processing, in order to cut waste. "We are here with a commitment to improve the welfare of coconut farmers and the sons and daughters of the regions," Jerry said. "Our ambition is to restore the glory of Nusantara coconut in the eyes of the world."