The fall in the price of snakefruit has impacted the income and increased the amount of snakefruit-related byproducts of Grogolsari Hamlet, Mranggen Village, Magelang Regency. The problem became a point of interest for students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta’s Social Services (KKN UMY) Group 067, leading them to hold a workshop on the processing and marketing of beverages processed from snakefruit rind. The activity was carried out on Sunday (12/1) at the residence of the Chief of Grogolsari Hamlet. UMN KKN 067 suggested and taught the community to process snakefruit rind into beverages to improve the economy of the Grogolsari community.

Suprihno, the head of the Grogolsari Hamlet said that the community of Grogolsari Hamlet earns a living as snakefruit farmer. However, snakefruit vendors are currently experiencing a decrease in revenue due to a decrease in sales. In addition, the community was unable to process the rinds of the snakefruit, and it sits as a byproduct waste. “Right now, the price of snakefruit in Grogolsari is only 1500 to 2000 rupiah per kilo. In addition, there is a lot of snakefruit skin waste that has accumulated and cannot be utilized by the community. Therefore, with this salak skin processing workshop, we hope to increase the selling price and economy of the hamlet’s community,” he said.

Yogatama Nugraha, a student of KKN UMY 067 explained that the workshop regarding the processing and marketing of snakefruit rind beverages aims to help improve the community’s economy and reduce the snakefruit rind waste. “We assisted the Grogolsari Hamlet community in carrying out the practice of processing snakefruit rind processing into a beverage. They were very enthusiastic because this is a new thing for the community and before this, the snakefruit rind is considered waste and thrown away,” he explained.

The snakefruit rind beverage is somewhat similar to tea, in form and in taste. The major difference between the two is the sharp scent of snakefruit in the beverage. (sofia)