Improving Marketing Methods, UNY Students Support 'Patilo' Snack SMEs from Gunungkidul

Marketing is very crucial in a business. Through marketing, a business including MSMEs can increase sales of their products. One of the MSMEs in Indonesia, especially in Special Region of Yogyakarta, is the Krupuk Patilo MSME. Patilo is a superior product of processed food using cassava as the basic ingredient. Tepus Village of Gunungkidul Regency has a cassava 'patilo' snack industry center, namely the Women Farmers Group (KWT).

“There are not many patilo producers in the village who use e-commerce and social media for marketing. In addition, the packaging of the patilo still uses plain white plastic with various sizes depending on the request of customers," said Marni, one of the women producing patilos in Tepus Village, last Tuesday (16/3/2021). Rukino as Dukuh of Padukuhan Pakel, Tepus Village said, "the role of youth is needed in digital marketing because many patilo producers are old and not technology literate".

Reviewing these problems, UNY students from the Research and Reasoning Community Student Activity Unit (UKM KRISTAL) Faculty of Economics (FE) UNY support the development of Patilo SMEs through improving marketing methods. Having passed the Holistic Villages Development and Empowerment Program (PHP2D) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, they organized training and assistance in market segmentation, digital marketing, digital content, and packaging design to support the improvement of Patilo MSME marketing.

This activity was held in Padukuhan Pakel, Kalurahan Tepus, Kapanewon Tepus, Gunungkidul last August. These training and mentoring were provided to the local Women Farmers and the local Youth Organization. There is a need for cooperation between youth organizations and women farmer groups so they can reach a wider market segmentation. Through training and assistance in digital marketing, digital content, and packaging design for Karang Taruna, this program is expected to improve the marketing quality of Patilo SMEs so that they can increase sales and, consequently, the income of residents.