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.