Local Champions 2019_Gorontalo - ASRI Kabupaten Pohuwato (English)

NSLIC/NSELRED GORONTALO CHAMPIONS Association of Small and Medium Scale Industry ‘ASRI’

Eka Maharani, a female head of household started her business in 2016 by producing traditional syrup made from Bilimbi (locally known as Belimbing Wuluh) packaged in 600 ml glass bottles. Eka's business took off when she saw that the fruit had underutilized potential as a health drink. First, she produced it for personal consumption, but then Eka began to receive positive feedbacks from her guests, neighbours and relatives for the syrup and they even started to place orders. From that point, Eka produced 30-80 bottles of syrup and registered her product with the Pohuwato District Health Office, with the brand name ‘Sirup Tradisonal Belimbing Wuluh’ (Traditional Bilimbi Syrup).

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT In 2017, Eka changed her brand name from Sirup Tradisonal Belimbing Wuluh into ‘Sirup Anti Galau Belimbing Wuluh’ (the Anti-anxiety Bilimbi syrup) and managed to secure a patent from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Ever since its name change, the product has gained popularity in the market, especially with millennials. As for the halal certification, Eka had this taken care of by obtaining an approval from the Indonesian Ulema Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia/MUI) of Gorontalo city.

Now, Eka’s Anti-anxiety Bilimbi syrup is being marketed in all pharmacies across Pohuwato and Boalemo districts, and it has even reached Surabaya city. With her product, Eka won 1st Place in the ‘2019 Business that Increases Family Income Contest’ (Lomba Usaha Peningkatan Pendapatan Keluarga/ UP2K) during the Family Welfare Program - Family Planning Health Movement event in Gorontalo province. Eka's success in establishing a women-led SME in Taluduyunu subdistrict of Pohuwato district undeniably merits our appreciation.

Eka Maharani (center, in pink) pictured with her group of Bilimbi processing SME in Pohuwato district.

PRODUCTS INNOVATION

JOINING ASRI

In 2018, Eka was unable to commence with production due to a change of business location.

Yet, upon resuming production, Eka picked up where she left off by evaluating her business management. New ideas emerged to revamp the packaging. Initially using plastic bottles, she switched to glass bottles since they were more environmentally friendly and could reduce market risk (in terms of preventing leak and maintaining the beverage flavor). Eka also innovated her products by coming up with new variants such as Bilimbi-turmeric mixed juice, Bilimbi cupcakes and Bilimbi chips.

In 2019, Eka joined the Pohuwato district Association of Small and Medium Scale Industry (Asosiasi Industri Kecil Menengah/ ASRI) as a member. To provide technical assistances for local SMEs, NSLIC/NSELRED supports the institutional strengthening of ASRI in collaboration with the Pohuwato District Office of Industry, Trade, Cooperatives and SMEs. Initially, NSLIC/NSELRED also facilitated the issuance of Recommendations for Approval of ASRI formation by the local government of Pohuwato district.

INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING Even as early as its inception, ASRI has worked closely with the Pohuwato District Office of Manpower by organizing the Entrepreneurship Training with the theme "Strategies for Getting Rich from the Village" in February 2019.

Following her participation in the training, Eka drafted a cooperation agreement with Yunan Harahap, the owner of Gorontalo-based OMart supermarket who happened to be a facilitator for the Entrepreneurship Training). To expand the market of her Anti-anxiety Bilimbi syrup, Eka and OMart are now in the process of negotiating their business partnership with the price proposed for bulk or unpackaged syrup starting from IDR 25,000 per liter.

Furthermore, for the institutional strengthening and business development, Eka partook in the Competency-Based Economies, Formation of Enterprise (CEFE) training organized by NSLIC/NSELRED on July 31 to August 1, 2019 in Gorontalo. After the CEFE training, Eka began to boost her syrup’s production capacity, ramping up to 300 bottles from initially 100 bottles (330 mlsized). Eka also expanded her marketing network in Gorontalo city through 10 new agents.

Currently, Eka Maharani is working to spread out her business wings to cover all areas of the Pohuwato district and Gorontalo province with technical assistances from NSLIC/NSELRED. Upon garnering positive responses and receiving support from the village government for her efforts in promoting women’s economic empowerment through her SME, more efforts will also be made to build a Production House which conforms to the industry standards through the 2019 Village Budget’s funding which will help to increase her SME’s productivity.

TRAINING AND EVENTS HELD BY NSLIC/NSELRED WHICH SHE ATTENDED: o o o o o

COMPASS Training of Trainers (ToT) on June 18-20, 2019 in Bogor city; CEFE Kick off on July 17, 2019 in Gorontalo city; Competency-based Economies, Formation of Enterprise (CEFE) training on July 31-August 1, 2019; Workshop on the Regional Investment Climate Survey of Gorontalo province on August 21-22, 2019 in Gorontalo city.

Monitoring and Evaluation of the NSLIC/NSELRED Gorontalo province’s progress held on September 12, 2019. As one of Gorontalo’s ‘Local Champions’, Eka shared about her experiences and success on business development during the event.