NSLIC/NSELRED GORONTALO CHAMPIONS Women Farmers’ Group (Kelompok Wanita Tani/KWT) ‘Muda Mandiri’ Sarintan Junus (42), an SME businesswoman from Gorontalo province engaged in the processing Coconut oil, set out on her business in 2002. Starting her business by opening a kiosk, Sarintan then established a trading firm (Bahasa: Usaha Dagang/UD), UD. Tiara, which is engaged in the rice trade. Since 2005, Sarintan tried her luck with Coconut oil in response to requests from several of her rice customers. In 2017, Sarintan still worked by herself to produce 80 liter of Coconut oil per month with average income of IDR 560,000/month. Now, Sarintan with her five female workers is able to produce 280 liter of Coconut oil per month with a total turnover of IDR 15 million/month. Sarintan’s product under the brand ‘Indra Trivera’ has also been widely marketed in Gorontalo as well as in the cities of Manado, Palu and Minahasa. Aside from producing Coconut oil, Sarintan currently sits on the board of NSLIC/NSELRED-supported Gorontalo Processed Coconut Association and serves as the Chairperson of the KWT Muda Mandiri mentored by the Provincial Agriculture Office of Gorontalo.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT KWT Muda Mandiri was formed in 2017 by the field officers at the Provincial Agriculture Office of Gorontalo. Originally, it was a women’s group who had been producing Coconut oil since 2014. Then, utilizing the 2018 Local Government Budget, the Agriculture Office, along with the Gorontalo Provincial Government, provided assistance in the form of a Processing Unit (Unit Pengolahan Hasil/UPH) for Coconut to KWT Muda Mandiri built in Dutohe Barat village, Kabila subdistrict, Bone Bolango district, Gorontalo. The presence of this UPH for Coconut has helped to increase the KWT Muda Mandiri’s productivity. KWT regularly churns out around 70 to 100 liters of Coconut oil per week. As a chairperson, Sarintan Junus actively coordinates 20 members of the KWT to increase Coconut oil production through a clear-cut delegation of tasks, which include processing, handling raw materials, packaging and marketing team. In addition, in a bid to expand the marketing of KWT Muda Mandiri’s Coconut oil, through UD. Tiara which is increasingly making excellent progress, Sarintan began to build her marketing network more consistently. UD. Tiara, which Sarintan founded, received a capital loan from Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) in the amount of IDR 250 million in 2005. As its business expands, UD. Tiara's business partnership networks have followed suit, reaching out Kota Raya, Kota Nagaya, Mamuju and Bone-Bone sub-districts. In 2019, Sarintan managed to secure financing worth IDR 800 million in capital loan from BRI under a two-year repayment term. Sarintan also changed the name of UD. Tiara into UD. Indra Trivera to match with the brand of her popular Coconut oil product.
Sarintan Junus participated in a TOT for Local Economic Development held by NSLIC/NSELRED in Bogor city on June 24-28, 2019.
"Before participating in the CEFE training held by the NSLIC/NSELRED, the marketing of my product relied heavily on resellers, provided there were orders coming in. But after attending the CEFE and I had the task of finding at least three new customers, it occured to me, ‘Why only three? Why not look for more customers?.” In the Business Model Canvas concept on the second day of the training, I learned the tricks to land new customers and now I have put it into practice." (Sarintan Junus, Chairperson of KWT Muda Mandiri and SME businesswoman producing coconut oil in Gorontalo Province).
NSLIC/NSELRED INTERVENTION
LICENSING AND MARKET EXPANSION
In 2018, the NSLIC/NSELRED conducted capacity building efforts aimed at businesspersons and SMEs engaged in processing coconut oil in Gorontalo Province. Sarintan Junus was among the beneficiaries of such efforts. The NSLIC/NSELRED also encourages standardization of quality and processing of coconut oil through various training programs and preparation of guidelines as well as relevant SOPs. Sarintan implemented the SOPs and put the knowledge she gained into effect to spur the production of KWT Muda Mandiri. Since then, the quality of their coconut oil has improved and she has started to venture into markets in such cities as Manado, Palu and Minahasa. To meet the increasing demand for Coconut oil, Sarintan was also encouraged to collaborate with other SMEs as OK-Go members, for example taking turns using the production equipment provided by the NSLIC/NSELRED to accelerate production.
One of the requirements for developing a business and expanding its markets is having business and product licenses. UD. Indra Trivera and KWT Muda Mandiri, led by Sarintan, have taken care of and obtained a notary deed for business establishment, a Trading Firm (for UD) and a Household Industry Product (Produk Industri Rumah Tangga/PIRT) registration number. Through the Gorontalo Province Office of Cooperatives, SMEs, Industry and Trade, Sarintan has also submitted an application for Halal Certification which currently is pending the approval from the Indonesian Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia/MUI).
As for strengthening business management, the NSLIC/NSELRED also involved Sarintan in various training activities including:
Training on Quality Standardization and Coconut Oil Processing; Competency-based Economies through Formation of Enterprises (CEFE) training; Training of Trainers (ToT) on Capacity Building to Support Local Economic Development; Strengthening Institutional Capacity for OK-Go (Sarintan is one of the board members at OK-Go).
Related to market expansion efforts, in the near future Sarintan will conduct market potential surveys focused both nationally and on the South Sulawesi region. In addition to strengthening its marketing network through an array of 150 regular customers, Sarintan will seriously work on tapping into the Bone Bolango Regency market, in Gorontalo, following an order of 8,000 bottles (600 ml size) of Coconut oil placed by Bone Bolango district Government for the bazaar during the Bone Bolango Fair in March 2018.