Sido Muncul Strengthens Local Agriculture Ecosystem

JAKARTA - PT Industri Jamu Dan Farmasi Sido Muncul Tbk (SIDO) was awarded as a Pioneer of Sustainable Herbal Industry and Local Partnership at the Jogja Brand and Business Awards 2026 event at the Kasultanan Ballroom Royal Ambarrukmo Yogyakarta on Wednesday, July 15.

Sido Muncul President Director, Irwan Hidayat, welcomed the appreciation as a boost to the company's spirit. Irwan said that this partnership with local farmers is not a new step, but a long-term strategy that has been built by Sido Muncul since 1998, before the era of reform.

"This training program was initiated through cooperation with the Tawangmangu Medicinal Plant Research Center Cooperative, which is now known as the Great Research and Development Center for Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine. In its implementation, the company determines the right area to train thousands of farmers, the majority of which are spread across the Semarang, Purwokerto, and Wonosobo areas. A small portion is in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, whose land is now more functional for the tourism sector," he explained.

The step of nurturing local farmers is triggered by the challenge of having difficulty in obtaining consistent and standardized supplies of herbal raw materials. Before the partnership was formed, the company was very dependent on the supply of collectors, which made the quality of raw materials varied, coupled with the increasing encroachment of herbal plants in the forest due to forest land degradation.

"In that year we started to have the idea to cultivate which goal is to standardize. Because it is planted by the same farmers, in the same place, in the same way, with the seeds we determine. Also so that we have certainty of material supply," said Irwan.

This scheme has proven to have a major impact on both parties. Of the total daily needs of about 50 tons of raw materials processed by the factory, as much as 60 percent or about 30 tons is absorbed directly from the harvest of partner farmers. As a wholesaler of harvest or offtaker, Sido Muncul provides a stable market guarantee and encourages economic and social welfare for farmers.

"As an offtaker, we provide benefits to farmers, we have an economic impact, farmers' welfare," said Irwan.

This spirit of empowering farmers goes hand in hand with the implementation of green business in the factory through the zero waste principle. Sido Muncul uses herbal waste as fuel for steam boilers, and relies on wood pellets, compressed natural gas, solar panels, and non-subsidized electricity to generate efficient and environmentally friendly clean energy.

On the other hand, Sido Muncul also uses the results of processing this herbal medicine to educate the public through wellness tourism which has been pioneered since 2003 at the Ungaran factory, Central Java. This educational facility is visited by up to 400 people per day from various corners of the country, or reaches 100,000 free visitors every year.

The visit, which had been halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to be encouraged again by the government as part of the potential for health tourism based on the local wisdom of Central Java.