UNS – Students of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta have successfully transformed the traditional adrem cake into a more trendy version. This project is the main activity of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) program in Piring Hamlet, Murtigading Village, Sanden Sub-district, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta Province.
The MBKM UNS team, led by Vindita Anggraeni, consists of three members: Elsa Ulinnuha Santosa, Siti Fatimah, and Vinka Sindy Agustin. They are students of the Management Study Program (Prodi) at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) UNS.
The development of adrem cake has received funding from Outstanding Applied Research (PUT) UNS in 2022 and 2023. With the title “Improving the Marketing Performance of MSMEs through the Development of Traditional Adrem Cake Products (In an Experimental Study Design)”, this project was supervised by Prof. Dr. Budhi Haryanto, M.M.
According to Vindita, the project has also been registered as an Intellectual Property Right in the form of an e-Book entitled “Improving the Marketing Performance of MSMEs through the Development of Traditional Adrem Cake Products (In an Experimental Study Design)”. In addition, the output of this program is a book that is currently being printed.
The production of adrem cake is still undergoing further research through market testing in Research 1 and Research 2. Vindita explained that Research 1 was carried out with several experiments including identifying the relationship between food product attributes, positive attitudes, and purchase intentions towards food products.
They also examined the moderating role of health conscientiousness on the influence of product attributes on positive attitudes and product purchase intentions; the moderating role of food experience on the influence of product attributes on positive attitudes and purchase intentions; and the moderating role of health conscientiousness and food experience on the influence of product attributes on positive attitudes and purchase intentions.
“Research 1 proves that innovative cakes significantly generate higher positive responses than original cakes, as indicated by higher positive attitudes and purchase intentions than original cakes. However, it should be noted that health consciousness and food experience were found to weaken the relationship between the formation of positive attitudes and purchase intentions towards the cake,” Vindita explained, Monday (10/7/2023).
The product development is still ongoing with research 2. This is advanced research to develop marketing strategies related to the sale of the cake. Research 2 focuses on developing an attractive packaging concept to influence attitudes and purchase intentions towards the cake. The conceptualized packaging includes size, basic material, color, label, and shape. These factors can influence individuals to have a positive attitude towards the cake and ultimately intend to purchase it.
The development of the adrem cake aims to provide product innovation. The innovation focuses on the color, taste, and texture of the cake. The MBKM UNS team maintains the original shape of the cake to avoid rejection from MSMEs that produce cake, considering that Adrem cake is an intangible cultural heritage in the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province. The focus is on developing a new adrem cake prototype with different color variations, flavors and textures from the traditional adrem cake. This new cake prototype is more targeted towards new markets or markets outside Murtigading Village.
“Through this model, we hope to provide empirical understanding to traditional food sellers as a basis for developing their food products to be more innovative and creative. On the other hand, we want to provide an empirical understanding of consumer responses to these foods, expressed in terms of positive attitudes and purchase intention,” Vindita added. Humas UNS
Reporter: Rangga pangestu Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti