Indonesian Coconut Shell Charcoal with Worldwide Quality
Indonesia has always been known as the country of waving palm trees. That means, so many coconut trees are thriving in our country. Indonesia has the potential to be number one in the world as a coconut producer, especially in its derivative products. Coconut fruit has so many benefits for human life. In addition to the water which has many health benefits, the shell or shell also has a high economic value.
Coconut shells or coconut shells which are the raw material for charcoal briquettes today are usually often thrown away. The coconut shells can be used as raw materials to be processed into charcoal, which can still be reprocessed into innovative products that can provide added value.
Indonesia's coconut charcoal briquettes have great export potential. One of the factors is the quality of Indonesian coconut briquettes which are considered the best by the international market. Coconut shell charcoal briquettes are an alternative fuel that is often used for cooking, especially for grilling foodstuffs in Europe, in Middle Eastern countries it is used for shisha pipe cigarettes, while in Asia, such as in South Korea and Japan, coconut charcoal briquettes are used for cooking purposes in Indonesia. restaurants, because coconut shell charcoal briquettes from Indonesia can produce more heat than coal or charcoal briquettes from mangroves. In addition, briquettes from coconut shell charcoal are also safer, and environmentally friendly, because they do not damage plants such as mangroves and do not cause smoke. Moreover, it is related to the very sensitive issue of global warming.
With a large export market opportunity, it means that the need for raw materials for coconut shells will also increase. This opportunity should be captured by small and medium-sized businesses to take advantage of coconut shells. Coconut charcoal briquettes are the only market where demand is higher than supply, i.e. many requests cannot be met due to limited raw materials.
In the future, to prevent scarcity and ensure the availability of raw materials for coconut shells, it is necessary to sell in the form of processed products, to provide more value and maintain the sustainability of Indonesia's natural resources for the long term. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic that is currently engulfing the entire world, hopefully, it will not dampen the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs from Indonesia to penetrate the export market. It turns out that coconut waste can be processed into economic products and can penetrate the export market. One of the products with export value is briquettes from coconut shells. This was conveyed by the founder and CEO of PT. Tom Cococha Indonesia Asep Jembar Mulyana when delivering a public lecture in front of students of the Agricultural Industrial Technology Study Program, Faculty of Agricultural Industrial Technology, University of Padjadjaran, last Friday (2/7). Briquettes from coconut shells have the potential to be alternative energy that can be utilized. This is because Indonesia has a lot of coconut commodities, so the shell waste produced can be used to be processed into briquettes. This is what Asep with the company he founded. This innovation is considered capable of replacing wood briquette production so that it can contribute to saving forest ecosystems. As explained the demand for coconut shell briquettes from abroad was very high. This is because briquettes are widely used for barbecue and shisha. Especially for shisha, the use of coconut shell briquettes is considered to have good quality compared to other briquettes. "The demand is very high because the consumption of barbecue and shisha in the world is very high, more than 350 thousand tons per year," Asep said as quoted from the FTIP Unpad page. Apart from having high demand, the coconut shell briquette business was also not affected by the economic crisis. Currently, 100 percent of sales of coconut shell briquettes are exported using foreign exchange rates. This makes the briquette business run sustainably, supported by the availability of abundant waste. Not only coconut shells, but Asep also explained, that coconut coir waste also has the potential to be made into ropes. However, its development requires appropriate technology so that it can be produced sustainably. "The potential of waste in Indonesia must be utilized properly to increase Indonesia's good name in the world, one of which is Indonesian coconut which is abundant in waste that has not been utilized properly, such as its shell and coir," said Asep. Head of Agricultural Industry Technology Study Program, Unpad, Dr. Efri Mardawati conveyed that his party had established cooperation with PT. TOM Cococha Indonesia to carry out Field Work Practice activities, and research, to become a forum for the implementation of the Merdeka Campus program.