Selection of Official and Unofficial Lemon Raw Material Suppliers (Case Study of Tasikmalaya City Branch Mixue)

Muhammad Al-Gibran Ibnu Rismayadi¹, Vita Sarasi²

Universitas Padjajaran, Indonesia

Keywords

Abstract

Supplier of Raw Materials, Official Lemons, Local Lemons

Mixue is one of the most popular contemporary drink brands in Indonesia. One of the important raw materials for Mixue is lemon. In Indonesia, there are two types of lemon raw material suppliers, namely imported suppliers and local suppliers. This research aims to examine and compare the use of lemon raw materials from official suppliers of PT. Zhisheng Pacific Trading (MIXUE) imports raw materials from local suppliers in the context of use by Mixue retail stores operating in the food and beverage sector. This research uses mixed methods between qualitative methods and quantitative methods. Data collection techniques in this research were observation, interviews and questionnaires. Mixue is one of the most popular contemporary drink brands in Indonesia. Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that local suppliers are superior to most of the factors considered than official suppliers. There is positive interest from experts involved in research regarding the use of lemon raw materials from local suppliers. From this research, recommendations and suggestions were obtained to consider updating policies related to regulations on the use of raw materials from third parties by considering all the advantages possessed by local suppliers in various factors. The results of this research state that local suppliers are superior in price and logistics efficiency. Official suppliers offer stable and reliable product quality.

Corresponding Author : Muhammad Al-Gibran Ibnu Rismayadi

E-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

The food industry plays a vital role in providing safe and quality beverage products for the public. In this complex ecosystem, selecting and using the right raw materials is the main key to business success and continuity (Mogaka, 2023). PT. Zhisheng Pacific Trading (MIXUE), as one of the official suppliers, plays an important role in providing quality raw materials for various beverage products, including at several Mixue branches in Tasikmalaya City (Putri, Shalsyabila, Bhayangkara, & Nofrida, 2023). However, challenges arise when there are limitations in meeting the need for raw materials, especially lemons which are the main raw material for the flagship product, namely Fresh Squeezed Lemonade (Molian, 2024). Fresh Squeezed Lemonade is the third best-selling product of all menu variants offered by Mixue Indonesia (Shakuntala & Ramantoko, 2023). And is the only final product that uses fresh raw materials and has many substitute suppliers available in Tasikmalaya City. This phenomenon highlights the importance of evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of using raw materials from official suppliers compared to local raw materials, which are often considered more economical, guaranteed freshness and greater availability, but carry the risk of uneven final product results from each retail store.

The following is the phenomenon of scarcity of the main raw material for Lemons based on the availability of supply from the official supplier PT. ZHISHENG PACIFIC TRADING (Mixue Indonesia).

Table 1. Summary of Lemon Stock Reports from Each Store

During August-October 2023

ï¿½Number of Lemons From Every Store Aug-Oct 202	Number of Fruits (pcs)
	Independence Pioneer Mixue	Mixue Martadinata	Mixue Tentara Pelajar	Mixue Siliwangi	Mixue Mitra Batik
Early August	0	0	0	118	64
Late August	0	0	0	58	4
Early September	0	0	0	58	4
Late September	0	0	0	0	0
Early October	0	0	0	0	0
Late October	0	0	112	0	0

Source: Stock Report Book from Each Store

This table is based on raw material stock reports for several Mixue retail stores studied, namely Mixue Pioneer Independence, Mixue Army Students, Mixue Siliwangi, Mixue Martadinata, and Mixue Mitra Batik. which is the Top 5 Mixue retail store with the best performance in Tasikmalaya City. This table is obtained from 3 months during the limited stock of raw materials, from August 2023 to October 2023.

Lemon, as the only fresh raw material for the flagship product Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, requires availability and quality to be maintained (Bizzarri, 2022). Mixue outlets that will be discussed in this research include Mixue Pioneers of Independence, Mixue Student Soldiers, Mixue Siliwangi, Mixue Martadinata, and Mixue Mitra Batik (Zulkarnain & Setyaningrum, 2023). Some of these samples were chosen because the author lives in Tasikmalaya City, and some of these samples managed to achieve the highest sales performance in Tasikmalaya City.

So the impact resulting from the selection of raw material suppliers can be more measurable because the impact will be greater. Concerns arise from various parties, including franchisees, employees and consumers, regarding the availability of raw materials and the consistency of menu availability, which has an impact on consumer satisfaction (Kanyan, Ngana, & Voon, 2016). It is important to note that there has been no positive response from consumers towards products made from local lemons because these products have never been tried for sale.

This research focuses on several Mixue branches located in the Tasikmalaya City area because apart from researchers who live in Tasikmalaya City, the availability of local lemons is quite abundant and varied. Which has the advantage of saving operational costs and more efficient delivery times. This uniqueness provides important insights into adaptation and innovation in raw materials supply chains, making it an ideal case study for this research.

ï¿½The following is sales data that can show that demand for the final product Fresh Squeezed Lemonade has a big influence on the overall sales of each retail store. Because it is officially the Top 2 Best Selling Product for all mixue outlets. And on average the Top 3 products with the best sales for the shops to be studied. The following data is attached:

Figure 1. Top Selling Line-up Product TOP 1-6

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade sales data for the first five months of this year shows a consistent increase, with peak sales occurring in January 2024 of 1,787 pcs at the Mixue Siliwangi branch, which is the first and best Mixue branch shop in Tasikmalaya City. This success emphasizes the importance of lemons as a main raw material and underlines the urgency of maintaining their quality and availability. Considering that the price of lemons from official suppliers is IDR 375,000/box (15kg net) and from local suppliers is IDR 300,000/box (14kg net), this price difference opens up significant opportunities for cost efficiency.

With the final product "Fresh Squeezed Lemonade" which is priced uniformly in every retail store at IDR 10,000. If we take an example, the highest sales during January 2024 were 1,787 pcs printed by Mixue retail, Mixue Siliwangi branch (Susilo, 2023). Therefore, the shop managed to record sales of IDR 17,870,000 in one month for just one product "Fresh Squeezed Lemonade". Therefore, how high the influence of sales of this product is on the total sales of each Mixue retail store (Nalendra, Winarno, & Priadi, 2023).

Previous research by Banaeian (2015) focused on selecting environmentally friendly suppliers in the food industry using various methods such as DEA, AHP, Delphi method, and qualitative and quantitative approaches (Banaeian, Mobli, Nielsen, & Omid, 2015). They emphasized the importance of green environmental criteria in supplier selection, the need for consistent criteria, expert input, and the integration of general and green environmental criteria for the selection of suppliers of environmentally friendly raw materials and packaging (Ghosh, Mandal, & Ray, 2023). The proposed models aim to assist decision makers in improving the supplier selection process by considering financial, quantity, service and EMS objectives by optimizing supplier selection and order allocation (Azadnia, Saman, & Wong, 2015).

Another research by Juniantari & Sulistyawati (2019) aims to determine the difference in brand equity between Nike and Adidas brand sports products from the perceptions of Denpasar athletes (Juniantari & Sulistyawati, 2019). This research method itself uses a quantitative method with a comparative approach. For data collection using a sampling technique in the form of a questionnaire. And data processing uses a different t-test using the SPSS for Windows tool (Afifah, Mudzakir, & Nandiyanto, 2022). The research results show that there are differences in brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty between Nike and Adidas sports products.

This research examines the impact of decision making on raw material procurement costs and final product quality, with the aim of evaluating the feasibility of using local lemons as a way to optimize the production process at the Mixue branch in Tasikmalaya, while still paying attention to aspects of consumer satisfaction with maintained availability and standards constant quality. Without violating established regulations, namely not allowing the use of raw materials from other suppliers. Please note that all activities that will be carried out during this research are for research purposes only, without sales to real consumers using research products.

Thus, researchers hope that the results of this research can provide valuable insight for PT. ZHISHENG PACIFIC TRADING (Mixue Indonesia) and retail shop owners (franchisees) in optimizing production processes, improving product quality, and minimizing basic production costs. In addition, by exploring other alternatives in procuring raw materials, it is hoped that it can make a positive contribution to efforts to optimize the raw material supply chain which can influence sales performance and consumer satisfaction.

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RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses mixed methods between qualitative methods and quantitative methods. With qualitative research using a descriptive analytical approach, a qualitative descriptive analytical approach is used to understand and describe phenomena related to performance comparisons from PT's official suppliers. Zhisheng Pacific Trading (MIXUE) compared with raw materials from local supplier Toko Sarimanis Fresh Fruit in terms of performance. Meanwhile, the quantitative method uses the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) data processing method to obtain absolute value figures which are processed from answers obtained from the data collection process involving experts and people involved in the hierarchy process. Data analysis, combining qualitative and quantitative method approaches at various research stages. This research was conducted at several Mixue retail stores in Tasikmalaya City, including Mixue Pioneers of Independence, Mixue Army Students, Mixue Siliwangi, Mixue Martadinata, and Mixue Mitra Batik. The time of the research was carried out from December 2023 to June 2024 and lasted for 6 months in these companies. Data collection techniques used in this research include interviews, observation and questionnaires. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. This model sampling technique is included in the non-random sampling technique (non-random rampling). The number of samples to be studied is 20 samples or respondents. Consisting of raw material re-stocking staff from each store (totaling 5 people), operational managers from each store (totaling 5 people), raw material stock audit staff from each store (totaling 5 people), local suppliers (owner of sarimanis fresh fruit shop), operational manager of Notre cafe (regular customer of sarimanis fresh fruit shop), operational manager of Fullhopper cafe (regular customer of sarimanis fresh fruit shop), operational manager of Pull&Shot cafe (regular customer of sarimanis fresh fruit shop), and central mixue supervisor. This research uses the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis method to find out what processes, risks, and obstacles may occur from each hierarchical structure.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 2. Calculation of Final Alternative Weights

Calculation of Alternative Weights
Criterion	Local Supplier	Authorized Supplier
Price	77.13%	22.87%
Product	54.49%	45.51%
Service	84.62%	15.38%
Distribution Process	78.49%	21.51%
Average	73.68%	26.32%

The following is the weight data for each main criterion that has been calculated previously:

Table 3. Main Criteria Final Weights

Final Weight Main Criteria
Main criteria	Final Weight
Price	23.03%
Product	33.35%
Service	28.79%
Distribution Process	14.82%

After the data is obtained, it can be processed at the final stage, namely the final calculation of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) using a hierarchy chart as below:

Figure 2. Chart Hierarchy

The weight value of each Main Criteria is multiplied by the weight value of each available Alternative. So that the final results are obtained which determine decision making. Below is the final calculation table and final hierarchy chart to determine decision making:

Table 4. Final Calculations to Determine Decision Making

Final Calculation of Decision Making
Kriteria	Local Supplier	Authorized Supplier
Price	16.97%	6.06%
Product	24.57%	8.78%
Service	21.21%	7.58%
Distribution Process	10.92%	3.90%
Total Bobot Final	73.68%	26.31%

Figure 3. Final Hierarchy Chart for Decision Making

From the results of calculations using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, the final conclusion can be drawn that the highest value weight was obtained by the "Local Supplier" alternative by recording a final value of 73.68%. Meanwhile, another alternative, namely "Official Supplier", only recorded a final value of 26.31%.

ï¿½ So it can be concluded that "Local Supplier" won by a landslide and with quite a large difference in weight values. So it shows a very positive interest from experts to consider using the alternative "Local Supplier of Sarimanis Fresh Fruit Shop" in dealing with transactions and use of lemon raw materials.

CONCLUSION

In terms of price, the performance of local suppliers is better because the logistics process is more efficient. In terms of products, official suppliers guarantee more stable and trustworthy quality because they go through a strict sorting process and meet international standards. In terms of service, local suppliers are more reliable, because stock availability is more guaranteed, the ordering process is more flexible and responsive. In terms of distribution process, local suppliers have more reliable delivery fleets. The best supplier from the results of calculations using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is the "local supplier" with a final score of 73.68%, while the "official supplier" has a final score of 26.31%. Future researchers can use multi-criteria approaches other than AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) such as ANP (Analytic Network Process) or Fuzzy AHP to assess factors that influence supplier selection, in order to obtain more robust and holistic results.

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