UNS — Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta always have new innovation ideas. This time a team of Student Creativity Program – Entrepreneurship (PKM-K) created mayonnaise from tofu. The team consists of Gabriel Ivo, Agissa Melatica, Rose Dwi Antika, and Brenda Annisa, was supervised by Bhimo Rizky Samudro, S.E, M.Si, Ph.D, in proposing their idea to process tofu into mayonnaise and won PKM 2021 funding for the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Higher Education (Dikti) Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemdikbudristek) RI.
Their innovated mayonnaise has low cholesterol and low-fat mayonnaise, which offer healthy food products for people with cholesterol issues and those going through a diet. As the Team Leader, Gabriel Ivo, explained that the idea started from the increasing number of people with cholesterol issues in Indonesia, increasing by 39.8% in the last two years.
“Indonesia Vegetarian Society (IVS) survey also shows the increase in the number of vegetarians in Indonesia. Implementing a healthy lifestyle is vital, including by reducing overconsumption of fats because cholesterol is a dangerous illness,” Gabriel Ivo explained.
In the official release received by uns.ac.id on Thursday (2/9/2021), Gabriel Ivo also said that tofu is selected as the main material in their mayonnaise production because it has low-fat content than the general mayonnaise materials, which are made from egg yolk. Tofu is also selected to increase its selling values in the community. Gabriel also explained that their product has been examined by the Center for Foods and Nutrition Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Yogyakarta.
“The result shows that mayonnaise from tofu has lower fat than the general mayonnaise sold in the market,” he said.
Product Marketing
Gabriel Ivo said that their mayonnaise is packaged in a glass jar to reduce plastic use and to promote environmentally friendly packaging. The product is promoted and sold through Instagram and Facebook because it is considered more effective in reaching wider audiences. The sales are still based on Cash On Delivery (COD) system for the time being. Besides reaching a wider audience, online marketing also aims to support the government’s programs to prevent the spread of Covid-19. “During the COD, we always implement strict health protocols,” he added.
In the future, the team hopes that their innovation can be accepted and benefit the community. “We hope that this product could benefit the society, especially for people with cholesterol issues and vegetarians,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti