Seaweed powder production in Indonesia decreased by more than 50% due to the pandemic

The social distancing protocol that has been instructed by the government of Indonesia has lowered down the production output of seaweed powder across the country. Despite the high demand for this commodity during the month of Ramadhan as the main ingredient of jelly, the majority of manufacturers have not been able to produce at the normal capacity as they cannot produce at full capacity and are lacking the manpower. The seaweed powder industry in Indonesia can still be considered a labor-intensive industry and still relies heavily on human expertise and intervention. A number of manufacturers stated that in the span of March to early May 2020, their production capacity dipped to around 250 Kg/day from the normal production capacity at 1 MT/day.