Unhas Launches 'Sea to Table' App to Empower Coastal MSMEs

A community service team from Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas) has developed a digital platform called ‘Sea-to-Table’, a community-based approach to connect seafood culinary products from coastal communities on Barrang Caddi Island, Makassar, South Sulawesi, with consumers more easily and efficiently. Beyond providing a digital marketing space, the idea also builds a business ecosystem that brings together local potential, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and market opportunities within a mutually supportive value chain. Unhas Community Service Team Leader Prof Dr Seniwati explained that coastal communities actually possess the main capital in the form of abundant marine resources and the skills to process fishery products into goods with selling value. The biggest challenge arises when these products must compete amidst changes in consumer behaviour that increasingly rely on digital technology. For Unhas, she said, technology is only one part of the empowerment process. She explained that before introducing the digital platform, the community was first equipped with various skills that form the foundation of business development, ranging from marketing strategies, pricing, and branding. This includes product packaging techniques, improving the quality of processed seafood, and utilising social media and marketplaces as promotional media. This approach is designed so that digital transformation goes hand in hand with increasing human resource capacity. The support is expected to improve work efficiency, maintain raw material quality, and increase the production capacity of women’s business groups on Barrang Caddi Island. According to Prof Seniwati, the success of digital transformation is not determined by how sophisticated the technology used is, but by the community’s ability to utilise it sustainably. ‘What we want to build is community independence. When women have the skills to manage a business, understand market needs, and are able to utilise technology as a tool for growth, then the benefits of the programme will continue to be felt even after the community service activities have ended,’ she explained.