From Bali with love and some greenery

From Bali with love and some greenery

Dwi Setyo, Contributor, Jakarta

The aroma of patchouli was heavy in the air. The wooden hut
looked very much like an unkempt museum. It was dark and murky
and no light came in from the window. It contained racks of
bamboo displaying marble white soaps, resembling the bones of
ancient animals in an archeological exhibition.

Six large fans spread fresh air and the aroma of perfumed
spices to the entire room.

In the center of the room, surrounded by pans of wax, bottles
of spices, drums of honey and lots of soap, seven women were busy
with the last process: packaging. The dried soap was wrapped in
oil paper and labeled: Bali Asli (Bali Original). In thick carton
boxes, the organic soaps, made from local materials, were ready
for delivery to customers, who had placed their orders in
advance.

For the past 15 years, Bali Asli has been a portrait of
environment friendly industry in Bali. Despite having enjoyed the
benefits of the export market for some time, especially to Japan
and Europe, the soap factory on the slopes of Batukaru mountain,
75 kilometers from Denpasar, has not grown much.

The slow snail-like movement is an analogy for its business
growth. The wooden hut, serving as the production center since
its establishment, has never been expanded. The dollars reaped
from foreign customers has not changed the equipment or attitude.

However, for the past two years Bali Asli seemed ready to
begin learning to run. The simple hut, remaining much like it has
been, is now more crowded. The racks for drying have grown in
number. So has the number of employees. Today, the rhythm of work
is more a little more hectic than a few years ago.

Compared with its previous sales of less than 40 kilograms of
soap per month, now for the past year the figure has skyrocketed
to an average of 200 kilograms. Instead of two employees, today
the number is sixfold: 12 people. The factory also has a branch
office in the Kuta resort area, functioning both as a display
shop as well as a warehouse.

For the past three years, environment friendly industries have
started to grow in Bali. Apart from Bali Asli, which manufactures
soaps, bread and jam without chemicals, one can also find Cafe
Andalan. The small restaurant in the art village of Ubud serves
food which is organically-produced. All of the vegetables and
fruit served here are said to be chemical-free.

But these are not the only companies getting on the ecological
bandwagon, a great number of chemical-free agricultural projects
are active on the island. One of the most prominent projects is
the organic vegetable garden managed by a lecturer at Udayana
University, Kartini.

Previously this researcher had been famous as a producer of
various products derived from ground worms, such as those for
decomposing garbage and producing cattle feed as well as food
supplements. There is also PT Intaran Indonesia, which is
starting a factory for chemical-free agricultural products, such
as fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides.

This growing organic business trend could actually be much
larger, as a great number of foreign tourists and expatriates
residing in Bali should have lucrative market potential.

These foreigners are certainly more aware of environment
related matters than the local people who prioritize price as a
number one factor during purchase. The prices of these
environment-friendly products are in fact not much different from
the usual products. The Bali Asli soaps, for example, are sold at
Rp 200 per gram, which is only 50 percent above the family soaps
advertised on television.

Then why is the business not moving smoothly? The main reason
is the undeveloped marketing style used for these Bali's green
products. Forget major campaigns, they have never even advertised
their products. "We have to admit that we are not serious enough
in marketing," said Maya Pagandiri, the owner of Bali Asli.

Bali Asli can well illustrate the weakness of organic products
in penetrating the market. Until now, Bali Asli has not even
applied for the registration number from the Health Department,
while this is actually the "passport" to the retail market.
Without it, Bali Asli can only enjoy a word-of-mouth marketing
strategy.

The only green product player in Bali who is serious about
marketing is probably PT Intaran Indonesia. This company
certainly belongs to a different class when compared to Bali Asli
and Kartini. With billions of rupiah in capital, the company's
operation is no longer limited to the local scope, but covers the
national market. On top of everything, the company's ambition is
could almost be called revolutionary. "We do not intend to sell
green products, but we want to change the dangerous agricultural
system which uses chemicals," said Teguh Roziadi, a businessman
in silverware who initiated and capitalized the company.

The idea behind forming PT Intaran Indonesia was not purely
business, but a concern for the current agricultural system. The
executives of the company are worried about the farmers who seem
to be addicted to using chemicals for their plants. The dangers
of the chemicals are not only that the residues harm humans'
health but it also greatly decreases the land's future fertility.
Apart from that, the prices of fertilizers and chemical
insecticides, which fluctuate with the dollar exchange rate,
often pose a serious threat to the farmers' income.

After a three years of research, Teguh and his colleagues
discovered a solution: the intaran (neem) tree, a local plant
growing in abundance, which can replace the farmers' dependency.
There is a lesson here, that can be learnt from other countries'
experiences. In India, for instance, intaran is processed into a
safe and low-priced natural insecticide, while in Australia and
England intaran oil is made into a mosquito repellent which is
free from carcinogenic (cancer-causing chemicals), and even as a
shampoo for lice.

Intaran is a pioneer plant which can grow even in the worst
conditions, on dry, rocky or sandy land.

In Indonesia, this plant grows wild on the northern coast of
East Java and on the eastern and northern parts of Bali. On the
dry lands of Lombok, Flores and East Nusa Tenggara, there are
perhaps hundreds of thousands of intaran trees. Until now, this
hidden wealth has been left untouched, except for its use as logs
for fire for local people.

Armed with a pressing machine donated by a German NGO, Teguh
and his friends embarked on their dream two years ago. They
purchased intaran seeds from farmers in Bali and Nusa Tenggara
for between Rp 1,500 and Rp 2,000 per kilogram. Out of the 15
tons gathered, they were able to squeeze out 1.5 tons of oil and
tons of waste. Mixed with seaweed, rice husks and banana skins,
the waste material was processed into a nutrient-rich compost.

If Teguh had wished to go the get-rich-quick road, he could
have taken a shorter route. He could have directly marketed the
intaran oil and compost. As an illustration, at Cafe Krakatau,
Kuta, a 100 ml bottle of Australian made intaran oil fetches Rp
90,000. One can easily imagine the huge profits if only PT
Intaran Indonesia sold their product at half the price.

However, since the very beginning, this was not the intention
of PT Intaran Indonesia. To fulfill their ambition of replacing
chemicals used for agriculture, they have to prove that intaran
fertilizers and insecticides are not only cheaper but also
superior in quality. So, in cooperation with several research
boards, they established a number of plantations for testing
strawberry and tobacco in Bali and Lombok, oil palms in Sumatra
and vegetable plantations in Nusa Tenggara.

So far, the outcome of these plantations have been
extraordinary. From the first crop of tobacco plants, the leaves
were found to be larger, more dense and more aromatic than those
using chemicals. But Teguh does not want to brag now, as the
testing is yet to go through its final stages.