Jakarta –
Calculating risks carefully is an important asset for achieving success. This is a principle that Noverian Aditya adheres to, who finally decided to resign from his job at one of the large private companies in Indonesia.
The man who is familiarly called Eri gave up his salary of tens of millions to focus on the field he loves. This step, which sounded reckless, made him successful in developing a business with a turnover of billions of rupiah through coffee beans.
Eri is the Co-founder of Java Kirana, a social enterprise which operates in the plantation and post-harvest processing sectors. Java Kirana exists with the main aim of becoming an ecosystem enabler for the Indonesian coffee industry.
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“We are trying to balance between people, planet and profit. What is an ecosystem enabler, namely partner farmers, processors and friends downstream to ensure that the coffee is processed well, sustainably and does not damage the environment,” said Eri to detikcomwritten Thursday (31/10/2024).
This step is realized through increasing the capacity of farmers with the aim of making the coffee cultivation process better, so that productivity increases. In this way, farmers’ income also increases.
“Then we give them education based on technology and science. The aim is to make farmers feel truly accompanied because it turns out that the upstream industry is very, very quiet. Not many people go there. Even though there are many, usually they only come as off-takers or traders. So “They don’t really care about the lives of the farmers,” he said.
Eri saw how noisy the downstream coffee industry was with the mushrooming of coffee shops. However, ironically, amidst the hustle and bustle of this industry, the position of farmers remains unmoved. In fact, coffee prices have soared high in the busy center.
This is what made him and his high school colleagues at that time decide to take real action to balance agricultural productivity with quality. Java Kirana was born from a college assignment project in 2016.
“At that time, there was actually almost no capital, very little capital. Because I happened to like coffee from high school. So I founded Java Kirana with my high school friend. So he studied food engineering, at UGM I studied economics at FUI,” he said.
Exports to 7 countries with turnover of billions/year
With capital as a barista, he was finally determined to develop his business until now. In the midst of this process, Eri took the bold step to resign from her job at the corporation and focus on Java Kirana. Even at that time, he left behind his salary of tens of millions of rupiah per month.
His struggle also bore sweet fruit. From initially only distributing coffee beans to 3-4 cafes, now Java Kirana has hundreds of clients and has successfully exported to around 7 countries.
“Now Java Kirana has become a Taxable Company (PKP). The annual turnover is in the billions,” said Eri.
Java Kirana currently also has a plantation of around 15 hectares, with more than 500 partner farmers who manage around 750 hectares of land. The plantation locations are spread across several provinces, up to East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
The price range for Java Kirana coffee beans per kilogram reaches US$ 10 or around Rp. 150 thousand on average. Meanwhile, the superior coffees offered are Bogor lactic wash coffee, Garut natural single variety yellow caturra coffee, and full wash Sigi coffee.
On the other hand, according to Eri, his business is currently still in its infancy. He said, there are still many big players in the coffee industry with far more experience. This made him have big dreams and targets far into the future.
“The long-term target is for Java Kirana to become a household name in the coffee industry. When people see coffee with the Java Kirana logo, everyone immediately knows that the coffee is definitely delicious and has an impact on social and the environment,” he said.
Eight years into developing Java Kirana, Eri adheres to the message that one should take all risks into account. By calculating risk, it means we know the worst possibility that could happen, but at the same time we also know the best possibility.
“If you are like me, who has entered the world of social enterprise, I think there are three important things. First, purity of intention. If your intention is pure, whether you want to help people or help industry, at least you will always be on a path that we can know for ourselves. Second, we should have fun while doing it. Third, we have to be creative, and to be creative you have to be free,” said Eri.
Watch Video: Cafe Entrepreneurs Have Not Felt the Impact of the Increase in Coffee Bean Prices
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
(shc/rrd)
