Rayakan Valentine Day dengan Webinar Kewirausahaan, Mahasiswa Pertanian “Bertabur” Coklat

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Entrepreneurship Webinar, Agricultural Students “Sprinkled” with Chocolate

 

 

Students of the Agroecotechnology Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Udayana University have a unique way of celebrating Valentine's Day in 2022. Students taking entrepreneurship courses hold a webinar with the title Bintang (BincangTaniGemilang) with the topic: Chocolate Business Tips and Tricks.

 

The presence of two Balinese chocolate businessmen namely IGAA IndaTrimafoYudha (Owner POD Chocolate) and Kadek Surya PrastyaWiguna, SE (Chairman of P4S Cau Chocolate Bali) and accompanied by material from the Entrepreneurship Lecturer at Podomoro University WisnuDewobroto made the webinar held Monday (14/2) night "studded" chocolate and festive. The webinar was guided by Entrepreneurship Lecturer Ni Wayan Sri Sutari, SP., MP., attended by around 170 participants and attended by Deputy Dean III of FP Unud Dr. Ir. I Wayan Diara, MS. ,Kooprodi Agricultural Agroecotechnology Dr. Ida Ayu Putri Darmawati SP., and UPIKS FP Dr. Trisna Agung Phabiola. S.P., M.Si, as well as a number of lecturers from various faculties at Unud.

 

In her presentation, IndaYudhatold about the business she pioneered and managed as a form of participation as a resident of Badung Regency to reduce development inequality in her area. He explained, before the Covid-19 pandemic in Badung Regency there was a gap between regions, namely South Badung with a well-developed tourism business, while in North Badung most of the population lived in the agricultural sector. Initially, IndaYudha developed a nature-based tourism business in her home village, CarangsariPetang Village, in the form of rafting activities on the Ayung River and Elephant Safari. "My goal is that the economy in North Badung can improve according to the economic situation in South Badung," said the member of the Badung Regency DPRD.

 

IndaYudha added that POD Chocolate was founded in 2010 with the branding of a company that is fully committed to being the first plant-based chocolate producer in the world. The chocolate production uses local commodity ingredients such as rosella flowers, salt from Karangasem, and local coconut. "The difference between POD Chocolate and companies from European and Western countries that are famous for producing chocolate, but these companies do not have cocoa plants in their country," said the D3 International College Hotel Management South Australia. He explained that apart from trying to increase the added value of chocolate, the company is also trying to empower surrounding farmers who were desperate because their cocoa pod production was undervalued by middlemen. The established business strategy is to make products with the best quality, attractive packaging and the target consumers are the upper middle class. This condition makes POD Chocolate able to produce up to 15 tons per month and during the pandemic it decreased slightly to only 3 tons per month.

 

In line with IndaYudha, the management of Cau Chocolates was also built with the aim of helping farmers. Tagline: Growth Together, Help Each Other, according to Kadek Surya, Cau Chocolates wants to revive cocoa plantations which are declining from year to year. This condition is caused by farmers not taking care of their cocoa plantations so that cocoa plants are susceptible to disease. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the demand for chocolate in Indonesia continues to increase. Evidently, in the last five years Indonesia imported up to 180,000 tons of chocolate. "This means that the chocolate business opportunity in Indonesia is wide open," said the Alumnus of FE Unud, motivating students. In addition, to stimulate chocolate production in Bali in particular, CauChocolater increased the price of cocoa at the farm level and cut the cocoa distribution channel (farmers directly sell cocoa to Cau Chocolates).

 

Kadek Surya explained that Cau Chocolates, which was founded in 2014, has thrived in conditions of economic uncertainty and in 2019 became a national role model. There are three principles that must be adhered to by business people, namely that business must be profitable, run with a system, and must have solid management. Kadek Surya explained that the mistakes in doing business were waiting for the right business, being in a hurry, or not understanding the business rules. "Lack of knowledge is also a factor in business failure, so learning entrepreneurship is the right solution in growing insight and increasing the experience of being a businessman," he said.

 

Podomoro University lecturer WisnuDewobroto said he saluted the two Balinese businessmen who were able to accurately read business opportunities. Admittedly, acting is the main obstacle for people to do business. This is because although the business opportunities and the business climate in Indonesia are very good, Indonesians do not take advantage of them because they are afraid of failure. "To overcome the failure of business ideas, preliminary research should be carried out like what Mrs. IndaYudha did, the goal is that our business ideas are validated by potential consumers," he concluded. The participants of this webinar were very enthusiastic about asking various questions, and those who were lucky got a chocolate door prize or an entrepreneurship book. (*