Bank DBS Indonesia through Towards Zero Food Waste campaign helps social enterprises reduce food waste in Indonesia | Bahasa
Indonesia.26 Oct 2020.3 min read
Social enterprises a solution to food waste problem in Indonesia
Indonesia, 26 Oct 2020 - Data from the Food Security Agency at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations reveal that 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted globally each year. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, 2016 data from The Economist Intelligence Unit showed that each person produced 300 kilogrammes of food waste per year. Based on the figures, Indonesia as a developing country produces the highest amount of waste and food waste, or ranked second out of 25 countries whose food security is assessed in the Food Sustainability Index.
The carbon footprint of food waste in the realm of consumption is actually the biggest compared to other elements in the food supply chain. This is because the consumption aspect includes all elements, from the agricultural process, distribution, cooking, to the moment the food is wasted by consumers. This year, Bank DBS Indonesia as a financial institution that carries out sustainable business practices initiated the #MakanTanpaSisa movement as part of the “Towards Zero Food Waste” campaign to encourage people as consumers to pay more attention to and show care for the food they consume to reduce food waste. The “Towards Zero Food Waste” campaign is an effort of Bank DBS Indonesia to educate the public and raise awareness to reduce and manage waste, as well as contributing to the provision of food for people affected by the pandemic and people in need, through collaboration with various social enterprises, social organisations, the media, and society as a whole.
"The fact is there are still many people who are not aware of the dangers of food waste, and if it's allowed to pile up, it will produce methane gas that will aggravate global warming. As a bank that is driven by sustainable goals, Bank DBS Indonesia is committed to reducing the amount of food waste in Indonesia. Driven by one of our work focuses, namely sustainability, Bank DBS Indonesia takes part in providing a positive social impact, especially in the environmental sector," said Executive Director, Head of Group Strategic Marketing Communication, PT Bank DBS Indonesia, Mona Monika.
During the current pandemic, Bank DBS Indonesia continues to contribute to efforts to reduce food waste and increase public awareness of sustainable consumption through a donation programme in the “Towards Zero Food Waste” campaign. The campaign can be supported in various ways, including by watching the “Watch to Donate '' video at the following link: https://go.dbs.com/makantanpasisa-id. Bank DBS Indonesia is working with Foodbank of Indonesia (FOI) to distribute eight tonnes of meals to people in need for ten million views of the video. In addition, digibank by DBS credit card users can participate through the “Buy 1 Meal to Give 1 Meal” programme by purchasing a single meal on the Yummybox application using a digibank credit card and exchanging digibank credit card rewards with donations of packages of groceries through collaboration with a social enterprise, Garda Pangan. Thus, each customer donates a nutritious lunch box for people in need.
Bank DBS Indonesia also invites social enterprises to participate in promoting the movement and providing support for the sustainability efforts undertaken. To serve one of the roles of social enterprises, namely to provide solutions to social problems, Kecipir and Medan Tehnik support the effort to overcome the problem of food waste in Indonesia.
Kecipir and Medan Tehnik are among the entrepreneur partners of Bank DBS Indonesia that receive assistance in the form of new business ideas and mentoring from the Hungry for Change programme. The Hungry for Change programme is an initiative of DBS Bank that gives DBS employees an opportunity to provide solutions to problems faced by a social entrepreneur whose business focuses on Zero Food Waste throughout Asia. The solutions and ideas from these employees will be reviewed and communicated to social entrepreneurs, allowing them to get new perspectives on the problems they face and fresh ideas that can be used to grow their business.
Founded in 2015, Kecipir removed the supply chain intermediaries by producing crops according to demand (demand-based). Since its establishment until June 2020, Kecipir has reduced more than 100,000 kilogrammes of food waste by adopting the demand-based harvest system – harvesting on demand - Kecipir has also reduced more than 600 kilogrammes of single-use plastic by using baskets, recycled bags, or leaves for its product packaging.
Apart from seeking to reduce food waste, Kecipir is also committed to supporting the sustainability of the lives and welfare of each farmer by offering higher profit margins. Kecipir has already employed 35 local farmer groups; each group comprises 10 to 20 people. As an organic food producer, the company does not use pesticides and liquid chemicals in the planting and harvesting process, thus significantly improving the health of Kecipir farmers. Kecipir seeks to streamline the distribution chain so that farmers can distribute their crops directly to consumers via Kecipir.com. Through this distribution system, the selling price of organic vegetables can be reduced for the end consumer. The selling price of organic vegetables produced by Kecipir farmers has also increased to 30% in the value chain on average from a mere 15% when sold through intermediaries or directly to consumers. This can increase farmers’ prosperity.
“Bank DBS Indonesia through DBS Foundation’s mentoring programme supports Kecipir in our sustainability efforts, namely reducing food waste through supply chain effectiveness and creating a variety of eco-friendly products. This support convinced us to expand Kecipir’s business in the fields of technology, marketing, operations, and cooperation with several other parties," said CEO and Co-Founder of Kecipir, Tantyo Bangun.
Meanwhile, to provide eco-friendly solutions, Medan Tehnik has been recycling food waste since 2016. Medan Tehnik’s activities are also driven by data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, which in 2018 stated that Medan was the dirtiest metropolitan city in Indonesia. Innovative products from recycled food waste produced by Medan Tehnik include derivative products from Eco Enzyme (organic cleaning liquid made from vegetable waste), such as shampoo and soap, Eco Grow (organic fertiliser made from cow dung and food waste), and Eco Soap (organic soap made from waste cooking oil with a mixture of Eco Enzyme and leftover ground coffee).
In addition, Medan Tehnik is also committed to promoting the zero food waste movement to more people in Medan by providing training for several communities, schools, and home businesses. Medan Tehnik’s activities mostly benefit women, teenagers with special needs and low-income families in various grassroots communities in Medan and its surrounding areas. Medan Tehnik has been operating as a social enterprise since 2010 and has expanded to the digital line after the launch of its own application to make it easier to calculate the amount of food waste processed every day. "The support from Bank DBS Indonesia makes us even more confident about running our food waste recycling programmes in Medan, where we expect to reduce waste by 120 tonnes by 2022, as well as by launching eco-friendly innovation products twice a year, and distributing them to new areas that are still beyond our reach," said PT Medan Tehnik CEO Sukendro Saputro.
DBS Foundation was established in 2014 to underline Bank DBS's commitment to developing social entrepreneurs whose services and business forms can also address social and environmental challenges. DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant has provided grants for more than 60 social entrepreneurs in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
The carbon footprint of food waste in the realm of consumption is actually the biggest compared to other elements in the food supply chain. This is because the consumption aspect includes all elements, from the agricultural process, distribution, cooking, to the moment the food is wasted by consumers. This year, Bank DBS Indonesia as a financial institution that carries out sustainable business practices initiated the #MakanTanpaSisa movement as part of the “Towards Zero Food Waste” campaign to encourage people as consumers to pay more attention to and show care for the food they consume to reduce food waste. The “Towards Zero Food Waste” campaign is an effort of Bank DBS Indonesia to educate the public and raise awareness to reduce and manage waste, as well as contributing to the provision of food for people affected by the pandemic and people in need, through collaboration with various social enterprises, social organisations, the media, and society as a whole.
"The fact is there are still many people who are not aware of the dangers of food waste, and if it's allowed to pile up, it will produce methane gas that will aggravate global warming. As a bank that is driven by sustainable goals, Bank DBS Indonesia is committed to reducing the amount of food waste in Indonesia. Driven by one of our work focuses, namely sustainability, Bank DBS Indonesia takes part in providing a positive social impact, especially in the environmental sector," said Executive Director, Head of Group Strategic Marketing Communication, PT Bank DBS Indonesia, Mona Monika.
During the current pandemic, Bank DBS Indonesia continues to contribute to efforts to reduce food waste and increase public awareness of sustainable consumption through a donation programme in the “Towards Zero Food Waste” campaign. The campaign can be supported in various ways, including by watching the “Watch to Donate '' video at the following link: https://go.dbs.com/makantanpasisa-id. Bank DBS Indonesia is working with Foodbank of Indonesia (FOI) to distribute eight tonnes of meals to people in need for ten million views of the video. In addition, digibank by DBS credit card users can participate through the “Buy 1 Meal to Give 1 Meal” programme by purchasing a single meal on the Yummybox application using a digibank credit card and exchanging digibank credit card rewards with donations of packages of groceries through collaboration with a social enterprise, Garda Pangan. Thus, each customer donates a nutritious lunch box for people in need.
Bank DBS Indonesia also invites social enterprises to participate in promoting the movement and providing support for the sustainability efforts undertaken. To serve one of the roles of social enterprises, namely to provide solutions to social problems, Kecipir and Medan Tehnik support the effort to overcome the problem of food waste in Indonesia.
Kecipir and Medan Tehnik are among the entrepreneur partners of Bank DBS Indonesia that receive assistance in the form of new business ideas and mentoring from the Hungry for Change programme. The Hungry for Change programme is an initiative of DBS Bank that gives DBS employees an opportunity to provide solutions to problems faced by a social entrepreneur whose business focuses on Zero Food Waste throughout Asia. The solutions and ideas from these employees will be reviewed and communicated to social entrepreneurs, allowing them to get new perspectives on the problems they face and fresh ideas that can be used to grow their business.
Founded in 2015, Kecipir removed the supply chain intermediaries by producing crops according to demand (demand-based). Since its establishment until June 2020, Kecipir has reduced more than 100,000 kilogrammes of food waste by adopting the demand-based harvest system – harvesting on demand - Kecipir has also reduced more than 600 kilogrammes of single-use plastic by using baskets, recycled bags, or leaves for its product packaging.
Apart from seeking to reduce food waste, Kecipir is also committed to supporting the sustainability of the lives and welfare of each farmer by offering higher profit margins. Kecipir has already employed 35 local farmer groups; each group comprises 10 to 20 people. As an organic food producer, the company does not use pesticides and liquid chemicals in the planting and harvesting process, thus significantly improving the health of Kecipir farmers. Kecipir seeks to streamline the distribution chain so that farmers can distribute their crops directly to consumers via Kecipir.com. Through this distribution system, the selling price of organic vegetables can be reduced for the end consumer. The selling price of organic vegetables produced by Kecipir farmers has also increased to 30% in the value chain on average from a mere 15% when sold through intermediaries or directly to consumers. This can increase farmers’ prosperity.
“Bank DBS Indonesia through DBS Foundation’s mentoring programme supports Kecipir in our sustainability efforts, namely reducing food waste through supply chain effectiveness and creating a variety of eco-friendly products. This support convinced us to expand Kecipir’s business in the fields of technology, marketing, operations, and cooperation with several other parties," said CEO and Co-Founder of Kecipir, Tantyo Bangun.
Meanwhile, to provide eco-friendly solutions, Medan Tehnik has been recycling food waste since 2016. Medan Tehnik’s activities are also driven by data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, which in 2018 stated that Medan was the dirtiest metropolitan city in Indonesia. Innovative products from recycled food waste produced by Medan Tehnik include derivative products from Eco Enzyme (organic cleaning liquid made from vegetable waste), such as shampoo and soap, Eco Grow (organic fertiliser made from cow dung and food waste), and Eco Soap (organic soap made from waste cooking oil with a mixture of Eco Enzyme and leftover ground coffee).
In addition, Medan Tehnik is also committed to promoting the zero food waste movement to more people in Medan by providing training for several communities, schools, and home businesses. Medan Tehnik’s activities mostly benefit women, teenagers with special needs and low-income families in various grassroots communities in Medan and its surrounding areas. Medan Tehnik has been operating as a social enterprise since 2010 and has expanded to the digital line after the launch of its own application to make it easier to calculate the amount of food waste processed every day. "The support from Bank DBS Indonesia makes us even more confident about running our food waste recycling programmes in Medan, where we expect to reduce waste by 120 tonnes by 2022, as well as by launching eco-friendly innovation products twice a year, and distributing them to new areas that are still beyond our reach," said PT Medan Tehnik CEO Sukendro Saputro.
DBS Foundation was established in 2014 to underline Bank DBS's commitment to developing social entrepreneurs whose services and business forms can also address social and environmental challenges. DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant has provided grants for more than 60 social entrepreneurs in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
[END]
About DBS
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank's "AA-" and "Aa1" credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker and “Best Bank in the World” by Global Finance. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 12 consecutive years from 2009 to 2020.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises, as it banks the Asian way. It has also established a SG50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and across Asia.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. The bank acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in all of our 29,000 staff, representing over 40 nationalities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
