Woman entrepreneur drives green growth in Indonesia
Dwi Kuntari is turning local tradition into a growing business that creates jobs and promotes sustainable practices
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (MNTV) – When Dwi Kuntari established Jamu Deka in 2016 in Muntilan, Magelang, she started with two product variants and a childhood love of jamu — Indonesia’s traditional herbal drink — learned from watching her grandmother mix lime with sweet soy sauce as a remedy.
Eight years on, her business has grown to more than 16 products, expanded into Singapore and Malaysia, and become a model for how traditional knowledge can be combined with modern entrepreneurship and sustainable practices.
“My vision is to help preserve Indonesia’s traditional herbal drinks while empowering jamu artisans in the Muntilan area,” said Dwi, now 32. Innovation has been central to her approach. By combining traditional ingredients with fruits and vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes and lemons, she developed signature products including Belovera — a beras kencur drink blended with aloe vera — and Gulas, a tamarind-based drink. Modern packaging aimed at younger consumers has helped rebrand jamu as a contemporary health product rather than a relic of the past.
A turning point came through participation in an ILO-supported green tourism program, part of the Partnership for Action on Green Economy, which provided five days of training and three months of business coaching to 172 tourism micro, small and medium enterprises. “I used to do everything myself.
The training changed my mindset. I realized that to grow, we need a team,” Dwi said. Since then, profits have grown from 1–2% to 17%, plastic packaging has been replaced with glass bottles, and she has expanded her team to include administrative, social media and production staff.
She has also diversified into a herbal garden division, generating additional income through compost production, seedling development and educational tourism. ILO Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste Simrin Singh praised the initiative as part of a broader effort to strengthen Indonesia’s tourism brand “while improving livelihoods through green and sustainable tourism.”
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