ITB Students Win 1st Place at Kolabpreneur 2022 for Non-Refrigerated Food and Vegetable Storage Technology
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id—Four students from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) won first place at the Kolabpreneur 2022 competition. Brought by the HarvPort team, their innovation was a controlled atmosphere technology that combined chemical and permeable film to extend the lifespan of fruits and vegetables without refrigeration. This technology was also to be made affordable.
Kolabpreneur 2022 was a program organized by WU Hub. This program aimed to discover innovations to alleviate Indonesia's post-pandemic economy. The competition began at the regional level, and then proceeded to the national level in Jakarta on 18 November 2022.
HarvPort was a startup aimed to help farmers to store and extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables using the technology as mentioned earlier. The HarvPort team consisted of three students from the Postharvest Technology Study Program, namely Michaela Afra, Mifzaldin Akbar A., and Fahri Rahman, and one student from the Engineering Physics Study Program, Zul Aldi Rizki.
In 2021, HarvPort's technology was tested and proved to be successfully extended the shelf life of several commodities, such as papaya, from 3 days to 10 days and mangoes as well as avocados from 2 weeks to 3 weeks. This year, another trial was performed on chilli with another positive result: an increase in shelf life from 3 days to 15 days.
"Storing is a powerful tool for farmers as they have a bargaining point. When prices drop, farmers can store their commodities and sell them again when prices rise. There was one time when chili prices were at Rp1,500/kg or even Rp1,000/kg when the capital was around Rp20,000/kg. The farmers were really losing money at that time," explained Akbar, the Chief Executive Officer of HarvPort.
In an interview with an ITB reporter on Wednesday (11/28/2022), the HarvPort team shared their whole story of creating a startup while simultaneously studying. Zul said that establishing a startup would force students to step out of their comfort zone slowly. Professionalism was necessary as risks were inevitable, especially if the venture coincided with exams and coursework.
"For those who are still building a startup, never be afraid to enter competitions. Do your best, but don't hope that you will win. Winning or losing is a different matter. We can always receive feedback from the judges that will make us better in the future," advised Michaela.
Lastly, Fahri gave several tips on participating in similar competitions. First, always cross-check whether the competition's criteria align with the startup. Second, make sure that the innovation is not too simple. Third, prepare convincing arguments as to why said innovation is proposed. These tips are paramount to avoid any misinformation during the presentation and keep the whole idea consistent.
Reporter: Amalia Wahyu Utami (Engineering Physics '20)
Translator: Ariq Ramadhan Teruna (Chemical Engineering '21)
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