Hack-SUP Dining + Fostering Futures Party

On Saturday, September 10th, 2022, Instellar and one of Hack-SUP Innovation Lab’s startup Plépah successfully held the Hack-SUP Dining + Fostering Futures Party at the Urban Forest, Grange Park Cipete, South Jakarta. The mini sustainability and circularity focused festival was to discuss the single-use plastic problem in the F&B industry in Indonesia and its transition to more environmentally friendly solutions, as well as highlight 10 of Hack-SUP Innovation Lab’s selected eco-innovators that are engaged in creating change and sustainable movements. The event designed an Eco-Innovators Showcase where the selected startups can display their products and Eco-Innovators Pitching where the Founders or representatives from the startups can share about their sustainable solutions. The 10 eco-innovators are EcoplastID (Bandung), Go Purun (Banjarmasin), Rumah Jambe-e (Jambi), Plépah (Jakarta) that produce compostable food containers or eating and drinking utensils. Allas (Jakarta) and Koinpack (Jakarta) that provide returnable and reusable food or drink containers. Biopac (Bekasi) and Evoware (Jakarta) that produce edible food containers or packaging. Also, Izifill (Bandung) and Econesia (Jakarta) provide water refill or dispenser stations.

“The most interesting part of Hack-SUP Dining + Fostering Futures Party, we have Eco-Innovators Pitching and Showcase. We gave these eco-innovators from Hack-SUP Innovation Lab a room to show their products and to share their stories to wider and targeted audiences. There are solutions that we can do to reduce the use of single-use plastics, especially food packaging. We can’t do this alone and we have to do this together. All of us, to create an alternative packaging from non-plastic materials,” CEO Instellar Romy Cahyadi said. 

Interestingly, this event also offered a Dining Experience and Networking Mixer for the private invitees such as sustainability-focused startups, F&B company representatives, policymakers, and impact investors. A delicious menu from Hack-SUP Innovation Lab’s F&B Partners; Burgreens and Work Coffee Indonesia, was served with sustainable packaging from Plepah and eco-friendly cups from Allas. Local cocktails by Ooma Bar and local mocktails by Ramuraga also served to complete the event. 

In Hack-SUP Dining + Fostering Futures Party 2022, public and private invitees were entertained by other activities such as Talks, Public Campaigns from Westbike Messenger and Duitin, Mini Wine Class – Story Behind Sababay, and Music Experience from Gede Robi (Navicula), Bin Idris, Biru Baru, and Namoy Budaya. 

Head of the Sub-Directorate for Producer Management of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Ujang Solihin Sidik was there to give an Opening Speech. He also joined the Talk: Solving the Plastic Problem along with Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist World Bank Ambroise Brenier, Accelerator Program Manager from SecondMuse Soon Sing-Suen, and Supervisory Board Food Startup Indonesia Fadjar Hutomo. The talk was moderated by Kirana Agustina, Engagement Specialist for the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP).

“We, representing the government, are very happy to be involved in this event. Here we meet eco-innovators who are looking for solutions to the plastic problem. We hope that their businesses will grow, of course because sustainable business is the business of the future. Hopefully this forum can capture the interest of the investors who attended, so that they were more interested in investing their capital. We, from the government, are ready to collaborate, ready to promote and work together to improve these businesses. This is a concrete step, a sustainable business for the future to tackle plastic pollution,” Head of Sub-Directorate of Tata Tata Producer of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) Ujang Solihin Sidik said.

“We are delighted to support and partake in the Hack-SUP Dining + Fostering Futures Party. Through this experience, we were able to see how SUP alternative solutions were being adopted by food vendors and event organizers.  We hope these partnerships would continue and play a key role in solving the plastic problem,” shared Sing Suen Soon, Program Manager for The Incubation Network. “With such pilots, we can start to pave a path for the improvement of plastics alternative in Indonesia.”

Another talk titled Going Circular & Campaigning SUP-Free Lifestyle featured several speakers such as Ewa Wojkowska (Kopernik / Pulau Plastik), Gede Robi (Navicula), Tiza Mafira (Indonesia Diet Kantong Plastik), Rengkuh Banyu Mahandaru (Plépah), and was moderated by Gita Syahrani (Lingkar Temu Kabupaten Lestari). To close the Talk, Rengkuh as CEO and Co-Founder of Plépah, a producer of sustainable food packaging who uses areca leaves as its material also announced and shared its newest initiatives: Fostering Futures that will be officially launched in 2023. This initiative is a space to celebrate collective inclusivity, bringing together collaborative movements toward a more environmentally sustainable society, simply by being mindfully responsible. 

“Fostering Futures was held to mark the start of the Plépah “Starting the Possibility” campaign. This campaign highlights responsible consumption by using alternative products and services that are more sustainable. Fostering Futures is also impact driven and an inclusive movement that involves every generation, community, and group for communal activation in public spaces such as music festivals, art events and sports activities. The ultimate goal is to unite all the positive possibilities and exciting collaboration, so collectively we can move towards a sustainable everyday lifestyle,” CEO & Co-Founder Plépah Rengkuh Banyu Mahandaru said.

Another thing that is no less interesting from this event is the spirit of collective collaboration that comes from the various stakeholders involved. The Pop Up Food & Bar was filled by F&B Partners of Hack-SUP Innovation Lab. Not only that, this event also highlighted the responsible aspects by cooperating with several Partners. In addition to Plépah which provides sustainable food packaging, there was Allas which provides eco-friendly cups, Econesia which provides refillable glass bottles, Izifill which provides water filter dispensers, and Duitin which manages comprehensive waste management during the event. From the data recorded by the Duitin team, the waste that was successfully managed from this event was 45.9 kgs consisting of 8.5 kgs of plastics, 14.3 kgs of carton, 19.5 kgs of glass, 1.9 kgs aluminum can, and 1.7 kgs multilayered box. By being managed by Duitin, the event saved approximately 140 kWh of energy, prevented approximately 83 kgs of CO2 and 2 kgs of CH4 from potentially polluting the atmosphere.

“We’re fostering future hearts and minds alike by bringing collective activation from key stakeholders such as the Eco-innovators, F&B Partners, policy makers and platforms. Collaborations are needed to ensure the transition from SUP. As we know, our world’s plastic problem is one of the most pressing problems of the century. Action-oriented solutions are needed to make this shift happen,” Head of Program Instellar Ivy Londa said.