Bread on menus sparks Indonesia wheat-buying surge

For an increasing number of Indonesians, rice and noodles are no longer at the top of the menu. Bread is becoming a new food staple.

A voracious appetite for sandwiches and baked goods like cakes, pastries and donuts has turned the world's fourth-most populous nation into the No 2 importer of wheat. Consumption of the grain has doubled since 2002, quite a feat for a tropical archipelago that, unlike most other major buyers, grows none.

Baked goods are often just easier to eat than noodles or cooked rice at home. Their appeal has risen as the Indonesian economy more than tripled over a decade, boosting incomes for a middle class willing to pay more for fast, convenient meals. Consumption of bread and cakes jumped almost 60 percent in the past four years, the Indonesia Bakery Association estimates. Dunkin' Donuts Inc has shops in more than 17 cities, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc runs nine outlets in Jakarta alone.