Popularizing the Tastes of the Archipelago

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Anneke Putri Purwidyantari

Anneke Putri Purwidyantari (35) transforms the rich flavors of Indonesian spices, rhizomes, and fruits into syrups and other food products. Anneke, who is also often called Putik, partners with local farmers to supply raw materials that are then processed into high-quality products.

Putik has worked in the business of beverage production that uses natural ingredients since 2017. Initially, Putik, who lives in Sleman, Yogyakarta, produced several types of beverages, such as kombucha soymilk and cold brew coffee. “At that time, we were still trying to look for the right products,” said Putik in Sleman on Wednesday (31/3/2021).

Then, after a year of research, Putik decided to start producing syrups using natural ingredients. Her reason is that such products have a promising market. “After we produced the syrups for the first time, we tried to sell the products, to test whether they were marketable. It turns out there was a market for natural syrups,” said Putik.

Not all natural ingredients are good. There are some that could lead to inflammation. He referred to several academic journals.

In the first phase of syrup production, Putik was helped by her husband, Satria Cahya Pamungkas (30), who is also a doctor. Putik recalled how she consulted Satria numerous times regarding which natural ingredients were safe and healthy. Identifying the right ingredients is important since not all natural ingredients have a positive effect on our body.

“According to my husband, not all natural ingredients are good. There are some that could lead to inflammation. He referred to several academic journals,” said Putik.

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Satria rejected a number of ingredients that Putik planned to use in her syrups as they were deemed unhealthy. After undergoing a long research process, Putik and Satria finally found the right formula to produce natural syrups that were safe and healthy to be consumed with minimal health risks. Moonshine was chosen as the name of the syrup product’s brand.

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

Anneke Putri Purwidyantari

Putik explained that Moonshine used natural ingredients such as fruits, spices and rhizomes or mixed spices known as empon-empon. Even the color additive and preservative used in the syrup production too use natural ingredients.

Another characteristic of Putik’s syrup is that all of its flavors are inspired by the unique flavors of the archipelago. Putik’s goal is to revive the country’s wealth of flavors.

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For instance, the apple pie variant of Moonshine syrup is made from a mixture of Malang’s iconic apple, cinnamon, spices and non-refined sugar. Another variant, the Moonshine tropical purple syrup, is made from a mixture of butterfly pea flowers, pineapple, ginger, cinnamon, other spices and non-refined sugar.

Putik said Moonshine syrups were mostly bought by managers of hotels, restaurants and cafes from several cities in Indonesia. The Moonshine syrups are indeed often used in mixed beverages.

After the success of Moonshine syrups, Putik and Satria started to develop other products, now under the brand Ramu Padu. The new products consist of functional foods, which refer to nutrient-dense foods. The products include butterfly pea teas, moringa powder or moringa leaves, ginger honey, which is a blend of real honey with emprit ginger (Java ginger), as well as ginger green team, which is a mixture of green tea and emprit ginger. Another product is an immune booster, which is a blend of temulawak, ginger, lemongrass, cinnamon, moringa and lempuyang chilis.

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To effectively manage her products, Putik established a start-up named CV Ramu Padu Nusantara. In the past several years, her business has won a number of awards, such as third place in the Intermediate Product category at the 2020 Indonesia Food Innovation award and as a finalist for the Diplomat Success Challenge XI award.

Additionally, Putik has also partnered with local farmers in Yogyakarta in developing high-quality food products. Since 2019, she has encouraged farmers from Merdikorejo Village, Tempel subdistrict, Sleman, to cultivate butterfly pea flowers.

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

Anneke Putri Purwidyantari

The cultivated plants would be bought by Ramu Padu Nusantara to be later used as a raw ingredient in its several products. This partnership has helped improving the welfare of the local farmers.

Haryanto (53), one of the farmers who work with Ramu Padu Nusantara, said there were difficulties initially encountered in convincing the farmers to cultivate butterfly pea flowers. “At the beginning, many were skeptical about whether cultivating butterfly pea flowers could help their livelihoods,” said Haryanto.

Currently, there are 20 farmer households involved in butterfly pea flower cultivation. The majority of farmers who actively cultivate the flowers are female.

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The land area planted with butterfly pea flowers spans over 1,200 square meters. However, the land that is productive and could be harvested every month is only about 50 square meters. Every month, around 3 kilograms of dried butterfly pea flowers, or 30 kilograms of wet butterfly pea flowers, are harvested.

Although the scale of the production is still small, Putik said the organic cultivation system employed has produced high-quality harvests. “What is special about the butterfly pea flowers here is their delicious aroma. This makes buyers even more interested,” she added.

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Other than farmers in Sleman, Putik has also partnered with farmer groups from Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta, to cultivate empon-empon since approximately last month. According to Putik, farmers in Gunungkidul have cultivated empon-empon since last year, but they found difficulties in finding the right buyers.

Putik said Ramu Padu Nusantara aimed to connect farmers which produce food commodities with the buyers who need high-quality foods.

“We strive to connect the threads which link farmers with buyers. A lot of these threads have been cut off,” said Putik.

Anneke Putri Purwidyantari

Born: Surabaya, Oct. 12, 1985

Education:

· D-3 Degree in Public Relations, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta (2004-2008)

· Northern Virginia Community College, the United States (2014-2015).