SETC’s Supported MSMEs Successfully Market South Sumatran Coffee to the Entrepreneur World – 2 hours ago

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Sahang Mas coffee business owned by Djono Darmaputera (60) is one of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that has successfully penetrated foreign markets thanks to the assistance of the Sampoerna Entrepreneurship Training Center (SETC).

Djono said, before his coffee products succeeded in penetrating foreign markets he started his business in 1998 by marketing pepper, chocolate and various other food ingredients.

As for venturing into coffee products, he has just done it in the last five years. The Sahang Mas coffee product, under the Kopi Benua brand, is the first ground coffee product from South Sumatra to receive the Indonesian National Standard (SNI).

Then in 2019, Sahang Mas finally became one of the MSMEs that managed to obtain guidance from the Sampoerna Entrepreneurship Training Center (SETC). As is known, SETC is an MSME empowerment program initiated by PT HM Sampoerna Tbk. (Sampoerna) under the umbrella of the ‘Sampoerna for Indonesia’ (SUI) Sustainability Program.

It was through this guidance that Djono was finally able to export his products abroad. In August 2023, Djono brought his coffee products, Kopi Benua and coffee with a mixture of ginger and pasak bumi at the Wellness Food Japan 2023 exhibition in Tokyo, Japan.

“According to the theme, herbal drink, I mix the coffee with ginger and pasak bumi. And coffeemy own powder, typical of Semendo,” Djono in a written statement, Monday (21/8/2023).

Sahang Mas was brought together with several other MSME products by SETC in collaboration with Business & Export Development Organization (BEDO) corporate social responsibility partners.

For Djono, the opportunity to participate in Wellness Food Japan 2023 is a big opportunityto introduce the distinctive taste of Semendo coffee through Kopi Continent.

“I am very happy to get this opportunity from SETC and BEDO. Previously, I had no idea that I could bring Semendo coffee to Japan, but in the end I was able to because of the facilitation by Sampoerna,” said Djono.

After taking part in Wellness Food Japan 2023, he hopes that Semendo coffee will be better known. The reason, according to him, is that South Sumatra is known for its potential for Semendo robusta coffee with a large plantation area, as well as a strong and fragrant taste.

At SETC itself, he said he received food processing training which covered the 5R principles, namely concise, neat, clean, cared for, and diligent. SETC-assisted MSMEs are also encouraged to understand marketing strategies in depth.

Materials obtained include how to achieve customer satisfaction, how to calculate cost of goods, how to arrange product displays, make good packaging, and how important social media is in today’s digital era.

“This marketing training has really helped us in developing strategies to marketour product. Currently, marketing has been throughout Indonesia, both offline and online,” added Djono.

After joining SETC, he felt a change, especially in having a wider network to market his products. Djono believes that one day South Sumatran coffee will gain a wider place and audience.

So far, he continued, Semendo South Sumatra coffee has been mostly exported in raw form in the form of coffee beans. In the past few years, Djono has been trying to develop it so that South Sumatra coffee has more added value.The desire to elevate and increase the value of South Sumatra coffee is also what is wrongone of the reasons Djono has ventured into the coffee business in the last five years.

“I see that South Sumatran coffee has not been maximally developed after harvest. Compared to other regions, where there were no coffee plantations before, they have developed things like Bali, Java. In the past, the Javanese used to buy coffee when they went to Palembang, apart from empek-empek and crackers. Now it’s the opposite. This is what I want to return, because we have great potential,” said Djono.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(dpu/dpu)