Five students from the Faculty of Engineering, UniversitasIndonesia (FTUI) won 1st place in the 2022 ACCESS Business Plan Competition in Renewable Energy (BPCRE). The team consisted of Ariadne Jasmine Ardiana (Chemical Engineering 2021), Christina Amelia (Bioprocess Engineering 2021), Farrell Hakim (Chemical Engineering 2021), Fionna Aurell (Chemical Engineering 2021), and Hana Paskarini Silangit (Chemical Engineering 2021).
The ACCESS Business Plan Competition in Renewable Energy (BPCRE) is a forum for students throughout Indonesia to express their ideas, creativity, and interest in the business world related to the availability of access to electricity, and to help rural communities to develop businesses in their villages according to the local context. In this competition, four business categories can be selected to be developed, namely food and beverages, services, environmentally friendly products, and local handicraft products.
In this competition, Ariadne and her team brought up a project in the food and beverage business category, namely Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), which is made from purified fresh coconut meat. VCO is the purest form of coconut oil, which has undergone a chemical refining process to make it suitable for human consumption. VCO has various benefits, especially in the field of health and beauty. The ingredients in VCO such as capric acid, lauric acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid, and medium chain triglycerides (MCT) are believed to maintain bone health, increase milk production, maintain skin moisture, and reduce the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s. In addition, VCO can also be further processed and used as an ingredient in making bath soap, body butter, lip balm, and facial masks.
“Mr. Visco is the brand name of the Virgin Coconut Oil product which is made from fresh coconut meat from the early maturing coconut type of salak which is a traditional commodity of the island of Borneo. Mr. Visco went through the enzymatic processing stage using the papain enzyme which is extracted from unripe papaya so that the yield of the product reaches 155% more than without the enzymatic method,” said Adriane.
The team plans to promote Mr. Visco and sell it in 100 ml plastic bottles for Rp. 25,000.00, with a production capacity of 730 bottles/week. This business idea was created based on a form of support for the fulfillment of the SDGs. The business idea includes the collection of raw materials, the production process, and product marketing until the product reaches the consumer. The target market of Mr. Visco is a business partner in the form of consumers on a small scale so that later it can reach large industrial scales.
“The many functions offered to create a high demand for VCO in national and international markets. Based on BPS export and import data (2022), during 2021 exports of coconut products in the form of VCO reached 278.8 thousand tons, an increase of around 4.46% compared to the previous year. This business profit can reach 80% or the equivalent of Rp. 31,570,643.60 every month so it is estimated that the initial capital will be able to get a return within 2 months. The implementation of the VCO business development in Muara Ripung Village will certainly have a positive impact on the environment, support the ACCESS Project, and of course, benefit the community economically,” explained Adriane.
Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU expressed his appreciation for Mr. Visco. “The product being offered named Mr.Visco is very much in line with the fulfillment of the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDGs number 1, 3, 8, 9, 12, 15, and 17. Hopefully, this product with more health and beauty benefits will also continue to be developed and have a real and superior impact on society, especially the 3T community,” said Prof. Harry.
The Accelerating Clean Energy ACCESS to Reduce Inequality (ACCESS) Project Competition is a collaboration between the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (Indonesia), the Ministry of State Administration (Timor-Leste) implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency ( KOICA). The ACCESS project aims to answer the challenges of rural electrification in Indonesia by building centralized solar power plants (PLTS) in 23 3T (frontier, outermost, lagging) locations, in the Provinces of Central Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and East Nusa Tenggara. Through the ACCESS Project, it is hoped that more people will have access to electricity using renewable resources and complement the rural electrification and renewable energy programs from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
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Bureau of Public Communications
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia