Selling Fermented Coffee at the Soekarno Coffee Fest 2024, UB Students’ Coffee Products were Sold Out!

hERITAGE96

Coffee is one of the superior commodities in the plantation sector in Indonesia. According to USDA data (2023), in the 2022/2023 period, Indonesia became the third largest coffee producer in the world with a production figure reaching 11.9 million sacks of 60 kg. Several local Indonesian coffee production results are already widely known by the public both in Indonesia and abroad, such as Aceh Gayo Coffee, Toraja Coffee, Bali Coffee, and others. Meanwhile, Malang Regency is ranked as the highest coffee producer in East Java in 2022 with a production figure reaching 13,047 tons (BPS East Java, 2023). However, this local Malang coffee is not yet well known by the wider community and its processing techniques are still limited.

Starting from these problems, a collaboration was created between five Universitas Brawijaya’s students consisting of Ametia Citra Florenika, Phelia Angelina from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Dyah Candra Dewi, Tsabit Abdurrafi Shalahuddin Al Ayyubi Sind from the Faculty of Computer Science and Rika Puri Muji Lestari from the Faculty of Dentistry through a specialty coffee business with modified carbon maceration fermentation techniques to increase the competitiveness of local Malang coffee so that it has a high selling value and is increasingly recognized by the wider community.

“This business is our innovation in the 2024 PKM activity. Initially, we participated in the expo held by UB Faculty of Agricultural Technology to introduce and promote our products. Seeing our products which were quite interesting, the Deputy Dean III of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Dr. Ir. Mochamad Bagus Hermanto, S.TP., M.Sc. invited us to participate in the SILATNAS Expo BUMPT Business Forum held at UB Pertamina Sports Hall in July to market and introduce our products on a wider scale. “said Dyah.

Starting from this invitation, Heritage96’s fame skyrocketed until it was covered by UBTV. And Heritage96’s promotional journey did not stop there. From UBTV, Heritage96 became increasingly well-known to the wider community to the point that DISNAKER Malang City offered to represent Malang City in the Soekarno Coffee Fest event in Blitar City which was attended by APEKSI from all over East Java, Bali, and NTT. This was a valuable and unforgettable experience for Heritage96.

The innovation initiated by Heritage96 is using water kefir as a starter culture added to the coffee fermentation process which is intended to improve the taste and aroma of the coffee itself. This is because it contains microbes such as lactic acid bacteria and yeast. These two types of microbes can work together to degrade organic compounds such as pectin in the mucilage on the surface of the coffee horn skin as a substrate. This compound will then be converted into organic acids that can be absorbed into the coffee so that it affects the taste and aroma of the coffee itself. The use of modified carbon maceration techniques also causes the coffee fermentation process by microbes to take longer so that the growth of unwanted microbes will be inhibited and the fermentation process will be even.

The combination of these two techniques causes an increase in the formation of volatile compounds contained in coffee which affect the sensory results of the coffee. “We are very grateful because our innovation has been well received by the community. This is proven by the sales of Heritage96 coffee which sold out in just a few days. The coffee business in Indonesia is indeed a tempting and challenging business. There needs to be an innovation so that local Indonesian coffee products, especially local Malang coffee, can increase and be known by the wider community,” added Ametia.

Phelia, another research member, continued Ametia’s statement that she hopes that later Heritage96 can expand its production capacity to other areas in Indonesia that are still rarely touched by the market and less known by the public. “Although Heritage96 is still in the promotion and introduction stage to the community. We are very confident that later Heritage96 will become a big brand and can represent the quality of local Indonesian coffee that can compete with coffees from various parts of the world,” said Phelia.

Ametia added that with this research, it is expected to increase the quality, taste, and competitiveness of Malang Regency coffee processing and as a real form of contribution from Universitas Brawijaya’s students to advance MSME and improve the welfare of local coffee farmers in Malang Regency. (ametia/VQ/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir)

  From Berita UB