The Rise Of Healthy Lifestyle Trends, BRI Empowers MSMEs To Take Advantage Of Opportunities In The Aren Sugar Industry

SERANG - Currently, a healthy lifestyle is becoming a trend in society, this encourages demand for healthier natural food products. One of the products in demand is palm sugar, which is known to have a lower glycemic index than regular sugar.

PT Tangkal Kawung Indojaya, one of the MSME producers of sugar palm from Trondol Village, Serang District, Serang City, Banten, comes with the Tangkal Kawung trademark. This company offers sugar palm in two variants, namely powder and liquid, to meet the various market needs.

We have been producing palm sugar since 2018 in two forms, namely powder and liquid. Currently, we are introducing a liquid variant that has a sweeter taste with lower sugar levels than the powder version," said PT Tangkal Kawung Indojaya Director, Adhe Shafitri ST MT, in an interview session on January 9, 2025 at the event.

Adhe explained that the main difference between granulated sugar and liquid lies in taste and sugar levels. "Gold sugar has a higher sugar content, but the sweet taste is lighter. Meanwhile, liquid sugar offers a stronger sweet taste with lower sugar levels," he explained.

Tangkal Kawung provides a variety of packaging options to meet customer needs. The powder variant is available in 500 grams and 5 kg of packaging, while the liquid variant is present in 250 ml, 750 ml, 1 liter, and 5 liters. For daily consumption, many customers choose 250 ml packaging which is priced at IDR 25 thousand to IDR 30 thousand. Meanwhile, large packaging is in great demand by business people such as coffee shops, noodles, and cookies.

In addition to targeting the retail market, Tangkal Kawung also focuses on the B2B segment by collaborating with coffee shop owners and bakeries. "We hope to expand cooperation with business actors in the F&B industry who are also present at BRI MSME EXPO (RT) 2025," said Adhe.

Furthermore, Tangkal Kawung is also preparing expansion steps to the international market. Currently, the company is targeting South Korea as the main export target. We see opportunities in Korea quite large, especially because import regulations are more flexible than the European Union and America," he added.

In the domestic market, Tangkal Kawung already has loyal customers from various regions, including Aceh, Lampung, and Surabaya. Through participation in BRI MSME EXPO (RT) 2025, the company hopes to expand market reach, increase brand awareness, and establish strategic partnerships with other business actors.

Apart from being available offline in various business partners, Tangkal Kawung products can also be purchased through e-commerce platforms such as Tokopedia, Blibli, and Shopee. Currently, the company's turnover ranges from IDR 20 million to IDR 25 million per month, with growth potential that continues to increase in line with the trend of healthy lifestyles in society.

On a separate occasion, BRI Corporate Secretary Agustya Hendy Bernadi revealed that this step is part of BRI's ongoing strategy in encouraging Indonesian MSMEs to continue to grow and become global players.

"The successful story of Tangkal Kawung is a form of BRI's real support to encourage MSME entrepreneurs to go global which is expected to encourage national economic growth through exports of local products," said Hendy.

To note, the BRI MSME EXPO (RT) 2025 event is a manifestation of BRI's commitment to encouraging more BRI-based MSMEs to go international. The event, which took place on January 30, February 2, 2025, at ICE BSD City, was successfully attended by more than 69 thousand visitors, and recorded transactions of more than IDR 40 billion and the realization of export contracts reached US$90.6 million or around IDR 1.5 trillion. (ADV)