The history: From coffee to Office Park...
The history: From coffee to Office Park...
Over a cup of freshly brewed aromatic Robusta coffee, Oesman Soedargo, the Chairman, and Mansjur Tandiono, the President, of the Prasidha Group, shared their thoughts, ideas and vision for the future of one of the largest agricultural commodity processors and exporters in Indonesia.
Soedargo has played an active role in developing the growth of coffee exports, as a member of the Indonesian delegation in the International Coffee Organization and the Association of Coffee Producing Countries. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Chairman of the Indonesian Pepper Exporters Association.
Mansjur Tandiono, a close associate and business partner, is Head of the Compartment for Promotion of coffee exporters, in addition to being the Deputy General Chairman of the Indonesian Animal Feedstuff Producers & Exporters Association.
Small beginnings
Soedargo recalled that it was in 1984 when four shareholders, namely Mansjur Tandiono, I Gede Subratha, Haji Machmud Uding and himself, of one of the business houses in Jakarta, realized the importance of the words "cooperation is strength." This indeed was the key factor which prompted them to break away from the mainstream and reach for their goal of "Prasidha" which is synonymous with "success." They were, individually, held in high esteem by the business community as commodities traders, and together their vision, strength and determination led to the creation of the Prasidha Group.
Prasidha entered the business world as coffee traders, but later expanded into other agricultural commodities as well, such as crumb rubber, black pepper, tapioca, cocoa, yellow maize, nutmeg and vanilla. All of these commodities were handled through its trading division. And it was not long until the group diversified into other ventures, creating new divisions to handle new businesses, such as manufacturing, financial institution, plantation, and real estate, Oesman Sudargo said.
Last year its trading division was consolidated, and Prasidha Aneka Niaga was established as the operational holding company, controlling seven subsidiaries specializing in different commodities trading. Afterwards, this company went public, selling part of its shares through the Jakarta Stock Exchange and Surabaya Stock Exchange. Last year its turnover reached a new record of about US$400 million, 90 percent of which came from exports.
The group's strength lies in coffee, which contributes 70 percent of Prasidha Aneka Niaga's income. Its coffee exports last year reached 110,000 tons, amounting to about 38 percent of Indonesia's total coffee exports, according to Mansyur Tandiono.
However, in the words of Prasiddha Aneka Niaga's president, "We are not just a trading firm. We believe in value added processing and upgrading the raw materials to international standards for export". Prasidha Aneka Niaga's concentration in the future is on downstream production, he added.
The group's manufacturing arm was consolidated into PT Dasa Windu Agung, which started with a polyurethane factory, manufacturing mainly car components out of polyurethane and plastics. It caters to local demands, namely Daihatsu and Suzuki. A tuna canning factory has also been established in Gempol, East Java, in collaboration with Japanese partners Itochu, Hagoromo and Jaido. Its export market includes Europe, Japan, the USA and the Middle East, with sales amounting to US$18 million last year.
Financial institution
Social awareness and concern for the welfare of the people of Indonesia is one of Prasidha's prime concerns. The Prasidha Bank in Jakarta, as well as its branches, assist home buyers in purchasing estate houses by providing bank loans. It focuses on planning and building affordable housing to meet the needs and demands of the middle income class.
Local banks, Bank Perkreditan Rakyat, have been established in Palembang and Lampung, to assist local suppliers as well as the general population in those areas. Plans are underway to merge the banking activities for smoother operations.
Real Estate
The beginning of the Real Estate Division can be traced back to 1985. Soedargo and Tandiono, apart from their expertise in coffee, were involved in the real estate business as well.
Prasidha's Real Estate activities began in 1986, in Surabaya, and in 1987, in Palembang. In Jakarta its projects include the Juanda Utama office building, Prima Indah Estate and Kebon Jeruk Indah housing estate. In Surabaya it became known by its projects such as the Basuki Rachmat office building and shop residences, the Kenjeran Permai Housing, Jagalan office building and shop residences, the Sutoredjo Indah Housing and Sutoredjo Prima Indah Housing, while in Palembang they constructed the Bukit Besar Housing complex.
The group has also been involved in general construction projects, namely buildings and roads. The prestigious construction work of Indonesia's major oil company in Gresik, Pertamina, has been undertaken by this group. Factory building projects are a recent addition to its range of activities.
The Plantation Division was set up to sustain a consistent supply of high quality raw materials for producing superior quality instant coffee. A coffee plantation was opened in Bengkulu, Sumatra, to produce Arabica coffee, and another plantation was added to produce Robusta coffee.
Articles in this section are written by Sheila Natesan.