Spotlight on Indonesia: AFP chefs driving locally inspired innovative cuisine
In Southeast Asia, food is more than sustenance – it’s culture, tradition and creativity on a plate.
Within this vibrant culinary landscape, Fonterra’s Anchor Food Professionals (AFP) customer‑led chefs play a central role helping shape menus that blend local flavours with the versatility of New Zealand dairy.
To support the Co‑op’s focus on innovation, strong customer partnerships and growth across key markets, AFP’s in‑market chefs work directly with restaurants, bakeries and cafés to co‑create dishes and develop tailored solutions. Their hands‑on approach – combining chef insight, customer understanding and fast, flexible product development – enables AFP to quickly respond to trends and help customers meet rising consumer demand.
Chefs Niko and Anadia are part of a global community of AFP chefs who share expertise, trial new applications and strengthen AFP’s capability in every market. Drawing on their culinary craft and deep customer knowledge, they help turn emerging opportunities into meaningful, accelerated growth.
More than culinary experts, AFP chefs act as trusted partners and technical advisors. They work side‑by‑side with customers to adapt dairy products to local tastes, develop new menu concepts and create applications grounded in real business needs.
Being based in-market gives AFP chefs a unique advantage: they can move at the pace of local food trends. This agility helps foodservice customers – from bustling bakeries to high‑volume kitchens – create dishes that resonate with consumers and deliver consistent quality.
Supported by their chef community, they blend culinary skill with product science and operational know‑how, ensuring solutions are both innovative and practical for everyday kitchen environments.
This approach is delivering strong momentum in Southeast Asia, where deep customer collaboration and a clear focus on innovation are driving sustained growth for the Co‑op.
Each year, AFP customer‑led chefs develop more than 250 new applications across the region, helping foodservice businesses stay competitive in a fast‑moving industry.
Being an AFP Chef means wearing many hats. We’re not just cooking – we’re technical sales advisors, trainers, product testers and recipe innovators. We benchmark against competitors, provide insights to sales teams, and even redesign menus to improve kitchen efficiency
In Indonesia, two of our talented chefs, Niko and Anadia, are truly passionate about shaping the future of foodservice.
For Chef Niko, the role carries a great sense of pride and responsibility. With over two decades of experience, he knows success depends on more than great recipes.
“Being an AFP Chef means wearing many hats. We’re not just cooking – we’re technical sales advisors, trainers, product testers and recipe innovators. We benchmark against competitors, provide insights to sales teams, and even redesign menus to improve kitchen efficiency,”he explains.
That breadth matters in a market where the right process can be as important as the right plate.
A market that demands more
Indonesia’s culinary landscape is anything but uniform. Each region, customer segment, and menu style has different taste preferences and operational challenges (from workflow constraints to flavour expectations), says Anadia.
“This diversity calls for a localised, hands-on approach – one that respects tradition while solving real-world kitchen problems. It’s a challenge AFP chefs embrace, combining culinary creativity with technical know-how to deliver solutions that work.”
In short, the brief changes city by city – so the approach must, too.
Two chefs, one mission
This collaborative approach ensures customers receive not just products, but complete solutions tailored to their needs. It begins with listening and testing, and it ends with training and measurable results.
Anadia thrives on this collaboration because on any given day she could be working with different customers, understanding their unique needs, and turning those challenges into real culinary solutions with a focus on adapting AFP dairy products to Indonesian recipes, ensuring they meet local taste profiles while improving consistency and efficiency.
Niko brings a complementary skill set. “As an AFP Chef our responsibilities range from product knowledge and benchmarking to menu innovation and operational assessments in kitchens to ensure our customer’s kitchen is working efficiently. Supported by well-equipped kitchen laboratories, I ensure every recommendation is tested and ready for implementation.”
Respecting tradition, driving innovation
Local culinary traditions play a big role in shaping their work with Indonesian cuisine having been rooted for hundreds of years. Niko and Anadia work within this context as they preserve and elevate local food with Anchor Food Professionals products to create new trends while keeping dishes consumable and acceptable. It’s innovation that starts from respect –and ends with relevance.
In the bakery sector, Anadia explains that “Indonesian customers prefer soft, moist and savoury tastes in dessert, so I adapt dairy ingredients into breads, cakes and traditional dessert fillings that match local taste profiles.” In savoury dishes, she uses dairy “to enhance the richness of herbs and spices, and balance strong local flavours” – whether in sauces, soups, or bakery-savoury items – so the dishes remain familiar yet elevated for Indonesian consumers.
Niko shares a similar philosophy describing it as “innovation with respect as we keep the soul of Indonesian cuisine while introducing modern dairy applications to unlock new textures and flavours.” From warung (small, often family-owned business classic dish) to contemporary café menus, the goal is the same: maintain the memory of the dish, while improving the experience of eating it.
Passion that powers performance
Both Niko’s and Anadia’s passion for what they do shines through in every interaction, as they turn challenges into innovation opportunities and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of foodservice in Southeast Asia. Their work isn’t only about developing what’s new – it’s about making what’s beloved even better.
In Indonesia’s kitchens, progress is plated daily. With chefs like Niko and Anadia leading the collaboration – from insight to trial to launch – AFP turns tradition into trend, and complexity into clarity. The result is felt where it matters most: more consistent operations, menus customers love, and businesses that grow. As Indonesia’s foodservice landscape continues to evolve, these chefs will keep setting the pace – proof that when local flavour meets global dairy expertise, innovation becomes a habit.
Chef profiles
Chef Niko Johansyah
After graduating from Culinary School in Indonesia in 1999, Niko continued his studies in Australia to further develop his pastry skills and worked in several bakeries there. Upon returning to Indonesia, he worked in various hotels before pursuing a new career path as a Technical Chef for a hotel and restaurant ingredients company. In that role, he assisted some of the best technical chefs from countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Switzerland, and Germany. He later advanced his career in Business Development and eventually became an Advisory Chef at Anchor Food Professionals Indonesia.
Chef Anadia Hanifandira
Anadia’s culinary career began in professional kitchens, where she worked in both hotels and local bakeries in Indonesia. During these early years, she built a strong foundation in baking and kitchen operations, developing a deep appreciation for discipline, consistency, and attention to detail. Today, she works as a Technical Chef, balancing hands‑on craftsmanship with technical expertise. Her work is driven by a continuous passion for learning and a commitment to improving food quality.