Tangbuje Digital Marketing and Smart Packaging Innovation created by UNAIR Chemistry Students to help the Madura Salt Community
Tim Tangbuje from Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) has successfully secured funding in the Student Creativity Program for the Application of Science and Technology (PKM-PI) organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture – Ministry of Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. The team has developed innovations in digital marketing and smart packaging for a group of salt farmers in Bangkalan. The team includes Alsya Firdausi Nuzula, a fast-track master’s (S-2) chemistry student, along with undergraduate students Achmad Badrus Zaman Rifky Romadhon, Sablina Damayanti, Kamailiyah Ulfah, and Muhammad Nashrullah from UNAIR.
Alsya, as the Public Relations representative of Team Tangbuje, explained that their product was developed to help solve issues faced by their partners, who are located near their hometowns. Their partners are the prosperous salt farming group in Pesanggrahan Village, Kwanyar District, Bangkalan Regency, Madura.
“The issue faced by the prosperous salt farming group is the drastic drop in bulk salt prices, from 3000 rupiahs per kilogram to just 300 rupiahs per kilogram when it enters the processing industry,” she explained.
One of the causes is government policies favoring imported industrial salt over locally processed salt. This affects the national salt processing industry, which is a primary market for bulk salt sales for their partners and other salt farmers. Consequently, the prosperous salt farming group is left with bulk salt to sell independently at home.
“Subsequently, this has led to new issues. Firstly, the bulk salt is left untreated in warehouses or on house premises without proper packaging, resulting in the salt products having a short shelf life and much of it being wasted.”
“Secondly, sales levels have become unpredictable because buyers are mostly limited to neighboring areas, which are still relatively few in number. Consequently, expenses exceed income.”
“Based on these issues, Alsya and the team developed a PKM product called TANGBUJE, focusing on digital marketing and smart packaging. In their marketing technology, the team utilizes digital platforms such as websites, marketplaces, and e-commerce channels like Facebook, Instagram, Shopee, Bukalapak, and Tokopedia.”
“We also prepared a simple accounting module that partners can use to track their profits,” she added.
Through digital marketing technology, it is hoped that the marketing area, previously limited to Madura-Surabaya, can expand nationwide. This technology will also facilitate direct purchasing connections with salt farmers without intermediaries.
In terms of smart packaging, the team aims to support bulk salt products for the industrial market by enhancing packaging quality to meet Indonesian National Standards (SNI). They have improved the purity of bulk salt to a minimum of 98%, meeting the purity standards for industrial salt.
“We are also enhancing the branding of Madura bulk salt through barcodes connected to the Tangbuje website,” she explained.
In conclusion, the fast-track master’s student in chemistry mentioned that the team has already created a user-accessible guidebook for partners. They have also launched digital marketing efforts through a website accessible at www.tangbuje.com, a marketplace platform on Facebook and Instagram under the ID Tangbuje, and an e-commerce platform named Tangbuje Garam Madura.
