Online Training Program was conducted on 8th September 2020 with the theme “Processing and Marketing of Nata de Coco”. There were 100 participants remotely across the globe.
Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM CSSTC) works together with the International coconut community (ICC) with respect to providing cooperative services to the member countries in research and development programs, capacity-building, technology transfer and webinars or workshops.
The main objective of this agreement is to improve the welfare of member countries, enhance collaboration to promote positive attributes of coconut products, to counter any adverse publicity against coconut and its products, to encourage farmers to increase the production of coconut, to train farmers to produce high-quality income products and to collaborate with coconut industry stakeholders.
Under the agreement, coconut activities initiatives have been created in the form of four sessions’ online training and webinar series in the theme of: “Stay Healthy and Productive during Covid-19 Pandemic”. The next trainings will be on the topics of “Processing and Marketing of coconut sugar”, “Good Agricultural Practices and Integrated Pest Management”, and a webinar on “Virgin Coconut Oil against COVID-19”.
The training started with a video launched on the profile of ICC and NAM-CSSTC.
In her welcome speech, Dr. Jelfina C. Alouw, Executive Director, ICC, welcomed the participants. She said that Nata de coco was one of the value-added healthy products, rich in fibers, made from coconut water and gaining importance amongst the consumers. The considerable volume of coconut water left unutilized during copra and CO processing could be processed by the small and marginal farmers of rural areas to value added products, like Nata de coco, without much investment. The raw material was mainly coconut water which could be easily collected from the copra manufacturers. Hopefully, after the training the participants come forward to set up small unit of Nata de coco in their areas as a source of nutritious food for their family and sell them as a source of income
His Excellency Ambassador, Mr. Ronny Prasetyo Yuliantoro in his opening remarks introduced the Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM-CSSTC) organization and its commitment to support the ICC and member countries engaged in coconut productions to ensure complete dissemination of knowledge of value added generation of the coconut in developing countries.
The technical session of training started with presentation of “Processing of Nata de Coco” by Mr. Jerry Wungkana (Researcher, Indonesian Palm Crops Research Institute, IAARD, Ministry of Agriculture). He explained the terminology of nata de Coco, production, isolation of bacteria, precautions to be taken; application of Nata de coco, and the value chains. Followed by video demonstration of the processing.
The second speaker, Mr. Martin Jimi (Director, PT Kara Santan Pertama) presented “Marketing of Nata de Coco”. He is a coconut specialist and Nata de coco producer for 15 years. He informed the participants that there are many challenges, like hoax that Nata de coco is plastic, sales fluctuation, and Covid-19 impact that caused 50% sales drop. He created various marketing programs in response to the challenges, such as education and workshop programs for customers about the health benefits of Nata de coco, resellers recruitment program which targeted residential area, expand products category, and digital marketing. He mentioned that marketing would be successful if we attract the customer and consumers with their preference and like.
There was an in-depth discussion on the topics, and the speakers attended the queries. The webinar was moderated by Mr. Vincent Johnson, Interim COGENT coordinator, ICC. The webinar concluded with a closing summary by Ms. Mridula Kottekate, Assistant Director, ICC.