IPB Student Gets National Young Entrepreneur Award Because of His Tea Business For Intestinal Health and Digestion

Sentanah Limmase (22), a student of Bogor Agricultural University, Department of Agroindustrial Technology (FATETA), got an award on the Food Business Student Category at Mandiri Young Entrepreneur  (WMM) 2018. This competition was held by Mandiri Bank in Malang on September 15, 2018.

Mandiri Young Entrepreneur was a form of appreciation to the best entrepreneurs Indonesia that synergized with the government program, which was "National Entrepreneurship Movement".

Sentanah Limmase, usually called Asen, conveyed his feeling, "I'm so happy. It was like everything you did pay off. I was pretty shocked because, from the 11-day series of event, I saw that other participants also had amazing businesses. Through event I learned so much and met a lot of young entrepreneurs that were still young but had a billion worth of business," he said.

This WMM Award was conducted along with the Entrepreneurship Workshop whose purpose was to give insights about the business world. Through the workshop, Mandiri Bank sought to spread the "entrepreneurial virus" to the participants present. Various speakers from successful entrepreneurs were invited to share their experience, trick, and business strategy.

In the competition, Asen explained that he presented Hakko Kombucha product. Hakko is a brand, and kombucha is a tea product that is fermented for 7 days using SCOBY (symbiosis colony of bacteria and yeast). "Kombucha has a probiotic bacteria that is beneficial for the intestine and digestive health," he added.

Initially, Asen was inspired by a college assignment that discussed kombucha products that have been popular in the US and Australia but are still classified as new products in Indonesia. "Starting from that assignment, we grew more curious and ended up learning about it deeper while observing the good responses of the people. We decided to continue this business. Our team currently has 4 people in it," Sentanah explained.

Kombucha business that has been pioneered by Asen and his team has been running for 2 years. Asen used to produce kombucha in Incubie, but now the production has moved to Bandung.

"We hope our business will grow bigger in the future," he ended. (CN)